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By M Roberts

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the technical feasibility of application of the electric monorail as a haulage system in hard-rock underground mining in Australia, in comparison to conventional truck haulage systems. The elements of the system being investigated include mine design and layout, installation, loading and unloading subsystems, tramming speeds, cost and productivity, automation, ground support, safety and environmental factors. Electric monorail systems are potentially more cost-effective due to a range of factors: only the one system may be needed for the transportation of workers, material and rock; and excavations for monorail haulage can be smaller and mined at much steeper gradients than for truck haulage. The smaller excavation size also reduces the need for costly ground support and û in another important measure for the health and safety of mine workers, and for energy savings û it reduces ventilation requirements. Electric monorail haulage technology is being applied in hard rock mines in South Africa and considerable benefits have been realised by the industry in that country. In Australia, mine designs for metal mines generally remain based on truck haulage and/or shaft hoisting systems. There is a tendency to apply these haulage systems to every orebody. For the industry to achieve sustained growth against a backdrop of volatile diesel prices and environmental concerns, new generation underground haulage systems are required. The monorail haulage system offers opportunities in improving materials handling efficiencies in underground mining operations. This paper examines the application of monorail haulage in metalliferous underground mining, presents comparative data with track and trackless haulage systems and develops concepts for system application in combination with conveyor belt haulage and narrow vein mining situations.

Jan 1, 2005

By Weber D, Knox PR

The criteria developed for the Argyle Diamond Mine process plant control system are reviewed. The control system installed is described along with a discussion of the method of implementation adopted. The control system was extensively tested prior to instal- lation at site. This approach led to signi- ficant time savings during plant commissioning and facilitated rapid escalation of plant production. The control system has performed satisfactorily with a high level of operator acceptance and basically satisfies the criteria Developed.

Jan 1, 1986

By A Thompson, E Villaescusa

The Western Australian School of Mines (WASM), Kalgoorlie, has been performing dynamic testing of reinforcement systems as part of the Minerals and Energy Research Institute of Western Australia (MERIWA) Projects M349 and M349A sponsored by WASM, the Western Australian State Government and the mining industry. These projects have resulted in the construction and commissioning of the WASM Dynamic Test Facility and a program of reinforcement system testing. The primary purpose of the WASM projects is to evaluate the performance of complete reinforcement systems when subjected to an axial dynamic load. The test procedure, monitoring and associated analysis enable assessments for each component (ie the element, the internal fixing mechanism and the surface hardware) of the reinforcement system. The performance of a reinforcement system is usually defined by a static force-displacement response to axial loading. However, this static response may not be applicable to dynamic loadings associated with violent failure of rock due to overstressing as mines progress to greater depths. It was therefore appropriate that the responses of reinforcement systems subjected to dynamic loading be defined and evaluated. The key findings from the tests on a number of reinforcement systems are presented and recommendations made regarding their application for dynamic loading.

Jan 1, 2008

By E Haren, A Winchester

The CSA Mine has a long and varied history from initial discovery in 1871 through to the present. Lead-zinc mineralisation was mined historically near the surface. Today copper and silver are extracted from the deeper regions of the mine. The mine has passed through a number of owners over this time, each with a unique operating philosophy and understanding of the mineralisation. Cobar Management Pty Ltd re-opened the mine in 1999 and has undertaken extensive drilling programs to expand the resource and gain a better understanding of the mineralisation characteristics. Presently mineralisation has been located over a strike length of 1.2 km and to a depth of over 2.0 km with over 30 mineralised lenses from four identified ore systems. The refinement of geological and mineralisation models led to further discoveries and prompted a review and modification of resource modelling processes. Advanced statistical analyses prompted the implementation of ordinary kriging as a grade estimator. Improved stationarity from enhanced geological domaining has been supported by variography and kriging neighbourhood analysis studies. Resource models at CSA are now quantifiable in terms of mineralisation style and estimation reliability. The new techniques are assisting the definition of more mining fronts, which are creating new opportunities to increase mine output.

Jan 1, 2006

By Barria J, Mencho J, Gonzalez GD

An extended Kalman Filter is used to build an on-line estimator of total ore, fine ore and water hold-ups in a SAG mill. In addition, an equivalent grinding rate from coarse to fine ore, as well as the discharge rates of solids (fines) and water are also estimated as part of the adaptation procedure of the model used for the Kalman Filter. The measurements used in the Kalman Filter estimator are the total mill weight provided by load cells, and inferred discharge flows of fines and water from flow and density measurements performed downstream. The net ore and water feed to the SAG mill are used as inputs to the estimator, and also the proportion of fine ore in the feed. As an example of how to introduce robustness in the estimation in the face of sensor bias errors, an estimation of the load cell bias error is introduced in the estimator, thus providing self calibration. The estimator presented in this paper has been tested by simulation using a detailed SAG mill mechanistic dynamic model comprising 27 size fractions well fitted to a pilot mill. The maximum error in the estimation of the operational variables - total and fine ore as well as the mill contents under different operating conditions - is about ten per cent.

Jan 1, 1993

The first geological maps of parts of Australia were produced in the 1830s and 1840s, many being for purely practical purposes, such as indicating the occurrence of coal, iron and other essential materials. Mineral location maps were also first made about the same time.More systematic geological mapping commenced in the 1850s when large parts of New South Wales and Victoria were studied in government-sponsored surveys by geologists such as Samuel Stutchbury, Alfred Selwyn and Reverend William B. Clarke. Their work coincided with the opening up of most of the major goldfields of eastern Australia, which led to the establishment of Departments of Mines in the separate Colonies (later States within the Commonwealth of Australia).A few companies employed consultant geologists at this time, and the mapping by Frederick Odernheimer is particularly notable. Geological study of Australian ore-deposits and mineralisedareas was influenced by the continental European geological ideas of men such as Odernheimer as well as by those from England. Both geological and mineral maps were a feature of Colonialdisplays presented at major international exhibitions during the second half of the nineteenth century. The maps accompanied rock and mineral collections which showed the known and potential mineral wealth of the Colonies. Such displays raised interest in the potential for development amongst government officials, entrepreneurs and investors in Australia and abroad.By the 1880s most of the Colonies had produced basic geological maps, and several maps of the whole continent had been published. Although systematic mapping of the continent become a reality only in the 1950s, the nineteenth century geological and mineral mapping formed the basis for the development of the major coal, artesian water, and metalliferous mining regions of Australia.

Jan 1, 1990

In this paper presented are the criteria used when assessing the harmfulness of shocks affecting the buildings. Those criteria are based on the value of speed or accelerations of building vibrations. Presented is the scale of harmfulness of vibrations of Langefors and Kihlstrom, Bureau of Mines, and SWD contained in the Polish Norm PN-85/B-02170. The parameters of the mining shocks measured by the Lubin coal mine station were compared with the parameters calculated as per the correlations (regression curves). The average acceleration calculated from the correlations for eight measurements is only two per cent higher than the actual one. But the average frequency of vibrations calculated from the correlations for eight measurements is as much as 2.22 times lower than the actual one. In order to analyse whether that takes place in the whole range of the energy of shocks compared were the results of calculations from the correlations for various magnitudes of shocks and various distances from their epicentre with the results of the measurements. From that it follows that only for the shocks of the highest energies the lowering of the frequency of vibrations by two times causes movement from the higher zone of harmfulness to the lower one (for example from the IV to III). In the one-family houses in Lubin there were the damages that are characteristic for not only for the III but also for the IV sphere of harmfulness as per the SWD scale. That should be explained via further research and maybe it would be feasible to draw out a new correlation to determine the frequencies only for high values of energy of shocks and determine the preciseness of the acceleration and frequency correlations used presently.

Jan 1, 2003

By Misk A

Several logging methods are presently available to the oil industry for the evaluation of formation porosity: the Sonic and Neutron logs are already widely used, the Gamma-Ganmia log is being progressively introduced. The readings of these instruments are primarily a function of the rack-porosity, hence the general term of "porosity tools". Apart from porosity, however, other variables such as type of fluid in the pores, nature of matrix and degree of shaliness have an important influence.The response of each device is a different function of such parameters: therefore, a cci bination of porosity tools can lead to information on these variables in addition to the evaluation of effective porosity.For example, the presence of gas; rather than water or oil, in a formation which is not deeply invaded, will tend to give Neutron derived porosity values which are too 'low; on the other hand, the Sonic derived porosity: value will be too high in such- a case. For the same porosity, the Sonic gives a longer transit time in sandstone than limestone, whereas in the low porosity range, the Neutron will read more counts per second in a sandstone than in a limestone of the same porosity. The presence of shale also affects the readings of the various porosity tools in different ways so that the combination of two or more methods may lead, in some cases; to an evaluation of both the-effective porosity and the shale, content.In conclusion, it may be said that the various porosity tools pre-sently available, are, to a large extent, complementary, and that in many problems the use of two porosity tools, instead of one, is very likely to bring valuable additional information.

Jan 1, 1962

Mineral resource estimation is commonly based on the accumulation of a series of local estimates. At times, the distribution of these grade estimates is not appropriate to the grade distribution of the data on which the estimates are based. Mineral resource grade estimation has an increased potential of being in error as the grade variability increases. As the mineral commodity value increases, greater grade variability within the mineral resource is tolerated. This paper directs its attention to mineral properties where the data average grade is 20 per cent or more than the data median grade at a specific cut-off grade. A mineral resource estimate is enhanced if it is supported by graphs which demonstrate that the sample data have been separated into appropriate geological domains. Each geological domain has a unique grade distribution signature, which can be graphically demonstrated simply and objectively. This signature will usually be evident well before the Indicated mineral resource estimates are available. The paper looks at the use of the log probability and MedAve plots to assess how effective domaining has been. It further outlines how the MedAve plot can be used to assess the integrity of the mineral resource grade estimate within a geological domain with the data on which it is based. The paper suggests that the overall grade of a mineral resource at any cut-off grade will be closer to the data median grade rather than the data average grade. Tips are provided to ensure that the odds reflected in the data grade distribution are not ignored and hence the risk that the project is affected by unrealistic estimates of the overall mineral resource grade is reduced.

Jan 1, 2003

By L Soares, W T. Hennies, F Fujimura

A methodology of environmental performance evaluation in mining developments is proposed, as well as guidelines and procedures for obtaining information to improve their environmental performance. Environmental performance is the results of the mining activities and their relation to environmental issues. If this evaluation is carried out on an on-going basis, it is possible to anticipate or to identify the formation and development of an environmental impact in its early stages. Evidence or trends identified by environmental evaluation provide valuable information to prevent further damage. The proposed methodology is based on the significant environmental aspects of a selected monitored job site by environmental indicators which are then compared with previously defined environmental criteria and targets or goals. The methodology procedures also take into account the environmental accounting of the investments and expenditures.

Jan 1, 2003

The provision of electrical power is an important consideration in project develop- ment. The first step to be taken in this area is to assess the power requirements of the project. The alternatives of taking a supply from a power authority or providing local generation can then be considered. This requires additional definition of the prob- able characteristics of the supply. The availability of authority power in Australia is limited by the extent of the state power grids. Recent developments now allow these grids to be extended and their load capacity increased to meet major load increases at less cost than was possible pre- viously. The options for local generation include diesel, gas turbine, steam, hydro, solar and wind, each having its particular performance characteristics and costs. The choice of fuel for diesel, gas turbine, and steam plant likewise involves consideration of a range of factors. The arrangements adopted for a number of development projects illustrate some of the aspects which influence the decisions on power supply.

Jan 1, 1986

IN carrying out experiments to determine the amount of metal taken away by fume or fine dust the apparatus used requires to be strong and compact, as it is generaIIy necessary to work on a staging fixed at considerable distance above the ground and against a smoke stack or flue. It is essential that the test be carried out at a part of the stack welI away from any bends, to prevent eddies. The method described below has been used for estimating the dust losses from Dwight & Lloyd sintering machines, antimony drossing furnaces, pot sintering trials, etc., and has been founc! satisfaetory. It is welI to bear in mind that the longer the period over which dust coIIection is extended, the more valuable the result is likely to be. The rateof aspiration of the gases through the apparatus is kept as regular as possible by changing the filter thimbles frequently, and the rate of flow should correspond closely with the rate of flow of the gases up the stack.The apparatus required for carrying out a test is as folIows :-{a) Thermometers : two are required, one for taking the temperature of the gas in the stack and one for giving the temperature of the gas in the aspirating drum. If the temperature in the stack is over 400° C., it is advisable to use a pyrometer such as the "Bristol" the couple being standardized before use at about the temperature of the stack.(b) Pilot Tube: The foIIowing sketch (Fig. 1) iIIustrates the principle of the pitot tube. The readings are to be taken in a straight flue, or stack, preferably 20 diam. away from any bend. A, which is open, faces the air current and...

Jan 1, 1922

The Closure Risk model was developed as a new tool to aid decision makers in the complex area of mine closure. It uses a simple analytical technique that allows the decision maker to simplify what is often a complex mine closure process into more easily managed sub components. This systematic approach ensures that critical factors in the closure process are not overlooked. It also allows the most important issues to be highlighted. The model can also be used to produce quantitative estimates of risk by weighting and prioritising the issues to produce the Closure Risk Factor (CRF). Field trials at several mine sites in the Northern Territory of Australia in 2001 tested the model. The trials confirmed that the model has significant potential as a tool for decision-makers to assess in a structured, systematic manner, the major closure risks at individual mine sites. The risks include not only environmental impacts but safety and health, community, legal, financial, technical and other issues. The trials confirmed the value of a team-based approach and the inputs of key staff including environmental, production, mine planning, and community liaison personnel as well as mine management. Although the usefulness of the qualitative component of the model was established, it was found that, due to the influence of subjectivity, the utility of the prototype model to determine quantitative risk was of limited value. Using a continuous improvement approach, improvements to the model were sought. A refined model, incorporating the Australian Standard 4360 definition of risk and facilitated in-house risk assessment sessions was developed and tested against the data obtained in the field trial. This model, while maintaining the qualitative strengths of the original, allows more accurate absolute and relative quantitative scores to be calculated. This in turn facilitates comparisons between the issues at a single site as well as between different mines.

Jan 1, 2003

By G Davies, D Dunn, C Mawdesley, O Bertoli

The coal industry in Australia has been actively working in recent years towards the (re)integration of geostatistical techniques to the process of coal resource estimation. The benefits of using geostatistical techniques, over the current interpolation algorithms in use in coal modelling packages used to generate the grid estimates, need to be illustrated for the methodology to gain a broader acceptance in the coal industry. This paper focuses on the benefits gained at BHP Billiton Mitsubishi AllianceÆs Saraji mine for the estimation of the total product yield value at a 9.7 per cent product ash cut-off of a particular seam of the Saraji deposit. In order to perform this comparison, the results of the alternative estimation methodologies need to be benchmarked, which in most situations is achieved through the reconciliation of the estimates against production and/or process plant reconciliation data. Unfortunately, this benchmarking was not possible as no reconciliation data for the area of interest in the chosen seam was available, as it has not been mined at the time of the study. Where no reconciliation data is available, an alternative method is to use conditional simulations as the benchmark for comparison. The simulated values can be regarded as ærealityÆ, and the alternative estimation methodologies, based on a sampling of the underlying ærealityÆ, can then be compared using the simulated ærealityÆ as the benchmark for comparison.

Jan 1, 2009

By B Hooper

Deep cuts in CO2 emissions will be required to stabilise and, in the long term, decrease CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. Technologies for capturing CO2 from major stationary sources (power stations, industrial plants, etc) and storing that CO2 for long periods of time is one of few near term options for decreasing CO2 emissions. This transition to low carbon intensity energy and possibly the hydrogen economy through renewables and in the long-term technological developments such as artificial photosynthesis.Capture of CO2 from post combustion emissions can be done using a range of technologies though costs are currently high and dependent on the concentration of CO2 in the emissions. Techniques include solvents, pressure swing adsorption and the use of membranes. Options for decreasing capture costs by increasing the concentration of CO2 in the emission stream include the use of oxyfuels (in pulverized fuel types boilers) and by moving to integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) operations either simply for power generation or for poly-generation opportunities. Once the CO2 has been captured it can be stored using a variety of methods. Storage in the ocean has been suggested but is considered an unlikely option because of environmental uncertainties and political opposition. Mineral storage is a niche opportunity. The greatest potential lies in geological storage of CO2 and this option is commanding increased attention from the Australian and international community.In Australia, the Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Gas Technologies (CO2CRC) is an important new initiative that will support energy companies and energy intensive industries in meeting challenges posed by greenhouse gas issues and assist them in their efforts to reduce their emissions profile.The progress of geo-sequestration and the challenges in the capture and separation of CO2 in the process industries are discussed.

Jan 1, 2004

For the last decade Australia has been the leading exporter of both steam and coking coal. In the ten-year period 1989 - 1998 steam coal exports increased by 93 per cent and metallurgical coal exports increased by 50 per cent. However, profitability of the steam coal sector has been disappointing. The coking coal sector, especially the hard coking coal segment, has fared better but its profitability was more because of its ability to maintain relatively high prices rather than its inherent productivity. Until quite recently the Australian coking coal sector was widely expected to be able to maintain this comfortable state without undue effort for the three major æpartnersÆ; the companies, the State Government and the unions. But coking coal could now be heading down the path followed by steam coal that ends with long-term over-supply and, despite steady improvements in productivity, poor profitability. Steam coal entered the ænewÆ era of long-term over-supply some years ago. Over-supply was due to the rapid increase in production in Indonesia, often from new mines and Australia. AustraliaÆs production rise was underlain by the apparent belief that the best way to lower costs was to increase production. In the first couple of years costs didnÆt fall much but the additional tonnage was sold at lower and lower prices into the spot market. By mid-1998 the difference between the contract price set with Japanese utilities and spot sales was often in excess of $US12 per tonne. Japanese contract prices and tonnages have since fallen significantly. Steam coal has moved from being a product to being a commodity. Any profits are due more to the low Australian dollar rather than inherent mine productivity. Seaborne coking coal trade has been dominated by Australia, Canada and the USA, with the USA becoming less competitive. Unfortunately, when the Queensland capacity expansion was well down the pipeline, the Asian financial crisis occurred and the Japanese economy entered what appears to be a long-term recession. Contract prices fell 18 per cent, tonnages decreased and some mines have been reclassified as supplying lower priced coking coal. The paper analyses past and expected future trends in labour and mine productivity, rail freight and FOB export port cash and total costs of the Australian steam coal and coking coal sectors and discusses the market outlook for Australia. The future economic viability of the industry is analysed and discussed in the light of the rapidly changing global environment.

Jan 1, 2000

By Hoberg H, Schnieder FU

The disposal of residues from coal preparation and processing will to an increasing extent require investigation and consideration of the environmental problems resulting as a consequence of this. Different authors (Diingelhoff and Plankert, 1983; Hasenpatt, 1985; Szczepanska and Twardowska, 1987) have concentrated primarily on the content and the mobilisation of inorganic contaminants such as chlorides, metals and heavy metals from spoil tips, while no publications have yet been found on the question of a possible emission of organic contaminants (PCB, PAH, HC HC) from processing residues. Here the flotation residues in particular are able to bind larger quantities of organic contaminants by physi-sorptive means because of their large specific surface and, after disposal, to be re-emitt than into the environment. The flotation agents used in coal flotation are mixtures of technical distillation products with a correspondingly fluctuating composition. As Hey, 1986 showed, they may contain, in addition to the main components (n-alkanes, alcohols, surfactants), over 50 individual trace substances. In conjunction with the structural-chemical similarity of the individual components, this complicates the quantitative analysis of individual components considerably. For the analysis of hydrocarbon content of flotation products by means of extraction with organic solvents in accordance with DIN 38408, H18, the difficulty arises, besides the insufficient sensitivity at low concentrations, that geogeonic hydrocarbons are extracted from the coal as. well and the analysis results are thus falsified. These problems were overcome by the application of the 14C radiotracer method where certain components of the flotation agents are marked with radioactive carbon (14C). By measurement of the radioactivity of solid and liquid samples, the concentration of the marked substance can be measured very sensitively and precisely, whereby the accumulative measurement of similar organic substances is ruled out. Thus the reaction path of certain substances in complex reagent mixtures such as flotation agents can be traced excellently and the conceivable environment burden resulting from flotation tailings disposal can be estimated. In this paper, the adsorption behaviour of typical components of coal flotation agents are investigated for different coals and types of gangue material, the reagent content of flotation concentrates and tailings, as well as the mobility of the reagents adsorbed onto solids. The knowledge of adsorption and desorption mechanisms of unpolar hydrocarbons emulsified in water to solids are also of particular interest for the understanding of processes of organic soil contamination and for the further development of washing processes for oil-contaminated soils.

Jan 1, 1993

By D Lau

Traditionally X-ray diffraction (XRD) has not been significantly used by the cultural heritage sector, as the most commonly used technique, X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), requires sample removal from the artwork or artefact, followed by grinding of the sample to a fine powder. With the development of micro-X-ray diffraction (micro-XRD) and other associated advances, non-destructive, in situ analysis of crystalline pigments on micro-areas of paintings and artefacts has become possible. This is illustrated with the application of this technique to the in situ analysis of propriety paints, paint cross-sections and small paintings. However, workers have noted that XRD can be insufficiently sensitive with pigment mixtures, due to matrix effects. This study obtained X-ray diffractograms of 17 single pigment preparations and determined relative amounts of crystalline content. The purity of single pigments was compared with Joint Committee on Powder Diffraction Standards (JCPDS) database diffractograms. The impact of pigments with high X-ray absorption coefficients on the detection limits of pigments with low X-ray absorption coefficients was further investigated by building on work done with the chromium oxide-zinc oxide series with the preparation of a second series of binary mixtures of zinc oxide (which has a high absorption coefficient and is almost fully crystalline) and ultramarine blue, which has a lower absorption coefficient but which is more crystalline. Semi-quantitative analysis, where baseline and absorption factor corrections are made, confirm detection limits as low as five per cent for chromium oxide and ultramarine blue when in a binary matrix with zinc oxide. However, this type of analysis is very time consuming. So in order to theoretically simulate issues that will be encountered with binary pigment mixtures, the single phase diffractograms were used to theoretically investigate the matrix effects of the three white pigments with the various coloured pigments. This illustrated that detection limits can be as low as five per cent or in non-ideal conditions, such as with partial peak clashes or where there are large differences in relative peak intensity, as high as 50 per cent. These results have significant implications for the analysis of painted surfaces on artworks or artefacts. It has been demonstrated that ideally this method is more suited to the investigation of surfaces where there is minimal mixing of pigments or where there is not a significant difference between the absorption coefficients of the mixed pigments.

Jan 1, 2008

By H M. A Ilyas, M Yahyaei, S Amari, M Darestani

Tailings are generally deposited on or near to the mine sites, occupying the site area, and being an economic burden for mining companies. Tailings can cause several environmental impacts, such as leaking toxic substances and contaminating underground water, emitting greenhouse gases, and damaging natural bodies and wildlife. Geopolymerisation of mine waste effectively transforms mine waste into more valuable, environmentally friendly products. Geopolymers are inorganic aluminosilicate materials that are widely applied in the construction industry (Araya, Kraslawski and Cisternas, 2020). The high performance and the low-CO2 emission of geopolymers make this type of material potentially more desirable than ordinary cement, given that manufacturing one ton of traditional cement generates approximately 0.8 tons of CO2. This process is seen as a promising method for repurposing tailings and reducing the environmental impact of mining waste. However, the environmental impact of geopolymer production is not sufficiently comprehended (Mazzinghy et al, 2022). Moreover, geopolymerisation of mine waste can offer several economic benefits, including reduced waste management costs (Amari et al, 2019; He et al, 2022), reduced raw material costs, and potentially lower production costs. However, there are several challenges that need to be addressed to ensure the economic feasibility of the process. This study aims to demonstrate the potential environmental impacts of geopolymer concrete produced using mine wastes and industrial by-products such as blast furnace slag (BFS). For this, a comparative cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology was conducted on different geopolymer mix designs, and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions results were compared to the ordinary cement. LCA can be used to evaluate the environmental impact of geopolymerisation of mine wastes in various ways. One important impact category is GHG gas emissions, which contribute to climate change and is the focus of this study. Another aim of this study is to evaluate the economic feasibility of the geopolymerisation of mine wastes via economic analysis (EA) to identify the key economic factors and trade-offs associated with repurposing mine wastes through geopolymerisation.

Aug 2, 2023

By T Perera, B Fan, S Thang, T Hsia

Minerals are valuable resources and critical elements for a broad range of biological and technological applications, including technological developments to improve energy efficiency and the global movement to promote a low-carbon economy. However, in order to extract these critical metals, large amounts of waste and toxic chemicals are generated, as well as the use of high energy and large amounts of water consumption. Froth flotation is one of the most commonly used processes to separate and collect high-value minerals, but it still has some limitations, including low flotation efficiency performances using existing collectors and other reagents. Therefore, there is an urgent need to design and develop new metal-specific collectors to more efficiently separate and recover valuable minerals and to allow bulk water recovery from flocculated tailings. In this research, we propose to use our newly designed and synthesised novel collectors derived from a type of vitamin E (α-tocopherol), a relatively inexpensive and non-toxic natural molecule. As a potential collector-building block, α-tocopherol has a long hydrophobic carbon chain that facilitates the attachment to air bubbles during the froth flotation process. In addition, the phenol group of this molecule can be easily modified to incorporate various functional groups for targeting different types of minerals. Furthermore, α-tocopherol can be converted into a monomer for polymerisation by the reversible addition-fragmentation chain-transfer (RAFT) process, which can provide us with polymer based-collectors with high precision control of molecular weight and architecture. So far, small-scale qualitative experiments on α-tocopherol-based collectors have been performed with good results, which indicates the feasibility of these compounds as novel collectors for improved froth flotation processes.

Aug 24, 2022