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By Margaret Armstrong, Normand Champigny

"In order to define the ore/waste boundaries as finely as possible, mine planners often insist on kriging very small blocks (relative to the spacing of the available sample grades). These kriged estimates for very small blocks are over-smoothed. For several simple sampling patterns the relation between the block size and the variogram range, and the kriging results were studied. Meaningful estimates of individual blocks are obtained when the variogram range is large compared to the block size and the sample spacing. For a variogram range less than half the sample spacing, the kriged block estimates were found to be uncorrelated with the actual grades. The over-smoothed estimates should not be used for calculating recoverable reserves IntroductionNowadays most mining companies know that the geostatistical estimation method, kriging, gives the best estimates of individual block grades. As most mining engineers and geologists are now familiar with the basics of geostatistics, the definitions of the variogram and of kriging will not be repeated here. An appendix containing definitions and mathematical formulae is given at the end of the article for the sake of completeness.Even though it is well known that the kriged estimates for very small blocks are over-smoothed, mine planners who want to define the ore/waste limits as finely as possible (especially for selective underground mines), are often tempted to krige very small blocks. So we ask how small is ""too small""? Clearly ""smallness"" cannot be expressed in yards or metres. It depends on the nature of the orebody under study and this is reflected in the variogram model chosen to describe it.To answer this question, the changes in four key parameters are studied:• the kriging variance,• the variance of the estimated grade,• the slope of the linear regression of the true but unknown grade on its estimated value, and• the coefficient of correlation between the actual grade and the estimate;as a function of the block size and the variogram range. (Definitions of these four parameters are given in the appendix). Ideally the kriging variance should be low while the variance of the estimated grade should be equal to the dispersion variance of the blocks. The slope should be l.0, and so should the correlation coefficient.These four parameters have been calculated for several simple 2-D examples. The effect of using kriged block estimates that are too heavily smoothed are shown, and the dangers of trying to use these estimates for predicting recoverable reserves for small blocks (i.e. selective mining units) are pointed out."

Jan 1, 1989

By F. W. Wellmer

"This paper discusses the changing nature of reserve/consumption ratios, using data from Canadian operations and focussing particularly on copper.IntroductionStudies in world metal consumption and world metal reserves are done regularly by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, the German Federal Institute of Geosciences and Raw Materials, and other institutions. Formerly, on the basis of these data, the following figures were calculated:• a static lifetime of reserves-reserves at year end divided by the consumption of the previous year;• a semidynamic lifetime of reserves-reserves at year assumed constant growth rate.These figures were severely criticized because they were purely theoretical and did not consider the availability of the raw materials.Recent practice is to calculate reserve/consumption ratios (R/C ratios) for periods(1) or for different years(2,3) and to interpret the trend. For base metals, these R/C ratios are increasing (Table 1). This had led to the conclusion that today the relative availability of base metal reserves has increased as compared to 10 or 15 years ago(4,5) As there are normally numerous deposits for each commodity, the anticipated production rates of deposits are irrelevant to this conclusion as long as the statistical distribution of possible production rates does not change significantly.The above conclusion is only justified if the quality and the nature of the data base remain the same. This is certainly the case for the consumption data. It is also assumed for the quality of the reserve figures, which usually take into account only proven and probable reserves. For the nature of the reserve figures, however, this does not seem to be true.Undoubtedly, the reserves increased in absolute terms between 1966 and 1978. To put the absolute reserve figures into perspective, it is common, as said above, to compare them with the mine production, which increased in the free world between 1966 and 1978; e.g. for copper by 40%, for Pb by 17% and for zinc by 36%. However, the reserves are also influenced by other factors, such as average size of the mines, changes in the grade of the mined ore, price-to-cost relationships and the like.The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of the reserve figures in more detail. Because the completeness of mining data published in Canada is rather exceptional, Canadian .data serve as an example and it is assumed that the conclusions can be extrapolated to other mining countries or at least to those with free market systems."

Jan 1, 1981

By A. Iizuka

This study was aimed at separating and recovering arsenic, antimony, and tin from refining byproducts generated in a nonferrous smelter. The target byproduct was a silicate slag containing the above elements. The silicate structure of the slag was destroyed by alkali roasting, which then enabled leaching of arsenic, antimony and tin in solution effectively. Arsenic was selectively leached out by hot water after alkali roasting of the slag, while remained antimony and tin in the residue were leached out by a hot hydrochloric acid solution. However, when the solid-liquid ratio in the leaching solution was increased, hydrous gelatinous silica (gel-like silica) was formed during the hydrochloric acid treatment and filtration became difficult. Therefore, high temperature and high pressure leaching was attempted to improve the filterability of the silica leaching residue. In the high temperature and high pressure treatment, the hydrous gel-like silica was transformed into easily filterable aggregated silica, and thus, filtration became easy. By investigating the neutralization and sulfurization treatment for the obtained hydrochloric acid leachate (second leachate), it was possible to separate antimony and tin. INTRODUCTION This study aims to separate arsenic and recover valuable metals such as antimony and tin from refining byproducts generated in a nonferrous smelter. The target smelting byproduct is antimony-containing slag in this study. In many cases, alkali roasting was adopted as pretreatment for extraction and recovering valuable metals from smelting residues and wastes (Rao, 2006). For antimony-containing slag in this study, one effective method for separating arsenic is to convert arsenic to sodium arsenate (Na3AsO4) by roasting with a sodium compound and then to remove arsenic by hot water leaching. In addition, by alkali roasting, the silicate structure of the slag is destroyed, and effectively alkalizing tin and antimony is accomplished. Then, precipitating and recovering tin and antimony leached into the acid solution are considered possible by sulfurization and neutralization treatments. In this research, we conducted basic studies on the following. 1) Destruction of silicate structure in slag by alkali roasting and leachability of arsenic. 2) Conversion of hydrous gelatinous silica to aggregated silica by hydrochloric acid treatment of residues after arsenic leaching under high temperature and high pressure, as well as leachability of antimony and tin. 3) Separation and recovery of antimony and tin by sulfurization and neutralization treatments of hydrochloric acid leachate. These topics of investigation can support to consider the separation and recovery process of arsenic, antimony, and tin from antimony containing slag.

Jan 1, 2019

By S. D. Normani

A Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) for Low and Intermediate Level radioactive waste has been proposed by Ontario Power Generation for the Bruce Nuclear site in Ontario, Canada. The DGR is to be constructed at a depth of about 680m below ground surface within the argillaceous Ordovician limestone of the Cobourg Formation. The objective of this paper is to apply paleoclimate boundary conditions to a regional-scale groundwater flow model for the DGR site and to describe the influence of glacial loading and unloading on flow system evolution using the FRAC3DVS-OPG flow and transport model. The regional-scale domain encompasses an area of 18,775km2 extending from Lake Huron to Georgian Bay in southwestern Ontario, Canada. From a hydrogeologic perspective, the domain can be subdivided into a shallow zone, an intermediate zone, and a deep zone comprised of the low-permeability units of Ordovician and the more permeable Cambrian where present. The deep groundwater zone is characterized by units containing stagnant water having high concentrations of total dissolved solids (TDS) that can exceed 300g=L. The high TDS values at depth require density-dependent coupled flow and transport calculations within FRAC3DVS-OPG. The computational sequence involves the calculation of steady-state density independent flow that is used as the initial condition for the determination of pseudo-equilibrium for a density-dependent flow system that has an initial TDS distribution. The 1,000,000 year pseudo-equilibrium heads and brine concentrations are used as the initial condition for the paleoclimate simulations. Over the past 900,000 years, the Canadian Shield has experienced approximately nine episodes of complete glaciation. During the glaciation cycles, the entire Canadian land mass has been covered by a series of continental ice-sheets whose maximum thickness reached 4 km and whose southern extents reached, in some cases, beyond the present-day Canada-U.S. border. The glaciation phase of a single glaciation-deglaciation episode is typically 90,000 years in duration, while the deglaciation portion proceeds relatively rapidly and has an average duration of approximately 10,000 years. Output from the University of Toronto Glacial Systems Model, a continental scale North American glacial reconstruction of the most recent 120,000 year glaciation event developed by W. R. Peltier, is used to supply the paleoclimate boundary conditions used in this paper. Permeabilty reductions due to the presence of permafrost are also considered in the paleoclimate simulations. This paper will demonstrate that the choice of rock properties can significantly affect residual pore water pressures within the rock matrix, as well as the migration of glacial meltwater.

May 1, 2009

By M. S. Moats

"The effects of commercial copper electrorefining additives (glue and thiourea) on the electrochemical removal of bismuth are of importance in copper production. It was found that Bi(III) electrodeposition occurs readily from acidic sulfate solution via a diffusion-controlled quasi-reversible reduction. The diffusion coefficient of Bi(III) was measured and found to be less than reported values of copper in similar solutions. The presence of thiourea and/or glue was found to accelerate or de-polarize Bi(III) reduction on stainless steel as compared to the inhibition or polarization of Cu(II) reduction. The additives also inhibited the dissolution of the Bi-Cu co-deposit during cyclic voltammetry. During short term deposition studies, the additives increased the concentration of Bi in co-deposited Cu-Bi products from solutions with low concentrations of Cu (<2 g/L). Bi deposition was significantly suppressed by increasing the Cu(II) concentration in the solution. The formation of a copper layer on the stainless steel electrode appeared to significantly suppress the reduction of Bi(III). This study demonstrates that glue and thiourea depolarize the deposition of bismuth on stainless steel. Therefore, the additives could be used to improve Bi impurity removal during third stage liberation.INTRODUCTIONThe production of high purity copper has been steadily increasing due to the wide application of the metal and its alloys in electrical and electronic products, infrastructure construction, industrial machinery and equipment, general products and transportation (Moskalyk et al., 2003). Most high purity copper is manufactured from copper sulfide mineral concentrates and/or scrap via a pyrometallurgical process followed by electrorefining (Navarro et al., 1999). During the electrorefining process, cast anodes of 99-99.5% purity are electrochemically dissolved into an acidified copper sulfate solution while high purity copper (>99.99%) is plated on stainless steel blanks or copper starter sheets (Davenport et al., 2002). The control of cathode deposit growth (purity and morphology) while maintaining a high current efficiency is of significant importance for copper refining (Ilkhchi et al., 2007). At typically applied current densities for industrial copper electrorefining, mass and charge transfer play important roles in the quality of cathodic products (Hiskey et al., 1998). If the real current density at some surface points is substantially higher owing to uneven current distribution, then rough spots can and will grow faster leading to nodules (Suarez et al., 1992). Nodulated deposits tend to capture solution and anode impurities (slimes) resulting in unacceptable cathode quality (Afifi et al., 1987). Furthermore, these nodules can grow until they eventually contact the anode leading to short circuits and current efficiency reduction (Ilkhchi et al. 2007)."

Jan 1, 2016

By I. Ueda, S. Ishikawa, T. Nagata

“O-SR process” in which the S-Furnace of the Mitsubishi process is followed by existing reverberatory furnaces (RFs) and Peirce Smith (PS) converters has been operated since December 2007. The S-Furnace smelts copper concentrates to produce molten matte containing 58-62%Cu which is then settled in the RFs and converted to blister copper in the PS converters. The SO2 gas generated from the S-Furnace and PS converters is converted to sulfuric acid in the acid plants. In addition to the smelting copper concentrates, the O-SR process has advantages in terms of recycling various waste/secondary materials. Automotive Shredder Residue (ASR) has been treated in the RF to reduce fossil-fuel consumption in RFs, and to recover various metals included in ASR as well, since 1993. Electronic circuit boards (E-scrap) has also been processed in order to recover not only copper but also rare resources such as gold, silver and PGMs since 2013. Strategic modifications have enabled expansion of the processing volume of E-scrap. Enhancing recycling of wastes and scraps from urban mines while reducing the consumption of natural resources in the “O-SR” process will be demonstrated and discussed in the present paper. INTRODUCTION Onahama smelter and refinery has been operating as a custom smelter since 1965. Smelting facilities were subsequently expanded to two green-charged RF furnaces and five PS converters in 1973. Since RF is a conventional old-fashioned smelting furnace that necessarily consumes a huge amount of fuel to smelt copper concentrates, saving fuel cost has been an important objective. In early 1980’s the fuel was changed from bunker oil to pulverized coal, while utilizing the combustion heat of waste tires. Furthermore, treatment of combustible waste such as shredder residue (SR) was initiated in order to save fossil fuel for smelting concentrates in the RFs. Since enhancing of the treatment of SR requires a reduction in concentrate smelted in the RFs, most concentrates were dried and injected through tuyeres into the PS.converters. These modifications enabled to reduce the amount of the pulverized coal combustion and to increase SR treatment in the RFs. SR treatment capacity has increased to 12,000mt/month because the SR market has grown after the enforcement of the Vehicles Recycling Law. Such business environment has been attributed to establish the thermal-materials recycling system of SR in which the RFs have changed their role from copper concentrates smelting furnaces to waste materials combustion furnaces.

Jan 1, 2019

By S. Timbillah, R. LaDouceur, C. A. Young

A low carbon-chain trithiocarbonate ((NaOOC)CH2SCSSNa), known as Orfom® D8, was tested as an organic depressant in the differential flotation separation of chalcopyrite and molybdenite in the presence of sodium isopropyl xanthate (SIPX) or potassium ethyl xanthate (KEX). Flotation studies show that Orfom® D8 depressed chalcopyrite while molybdenite remained floatable. A study of the mechanism of adsorption indicated that Orfom® D8 adsorbs on chalcopyrite through its trithiol (CS -) functional group via both chemisorption and Orfom® D8-metal complexation. The Orfom® D8 depressant is selective and does not form any Orfom® D8-molybdenite bonds. Thus, the combination of the depressant in the presence of either collectors depressed the chalcopyrite and floated the molybdenite. Fundamental parameters of the Orfom® D8 including pKa determination as well as possible decomposition products of the depressant are reported. This study includes an economic case illustrating why using Orfom® D8 can be beneficial. INTRODUCTION Depressants are incorporated in mineral flotation units in the minerals processing industry to make or keep certain minerals selectively hydrophilic. Most reagents used are inorganic and include, for instance, sodium hydrosulphide (NaHS) which is the major reagent used for depressing sulphide minerals, particularly those containing copper, iron and lead. However, the issues with its use include high toxicity, tendency to explode, strong odour, and high consumption due to required high dosages as well as its tendency to oxidise in air. The latter can be overcome by conducting flotation in inert atmosphere such as nitrogen and recycling of the flotation process water. The use of more novel depressants that are essentially organic including homopolar reagents with hydrophilic functional groups on both ends of its structure adsorb onto a target mineral surface with one polar end, the other polar end orients into the bulk solution making the surface hydrophilic and thus, ensuring that the desired mineral does not float. The stringent environmental and safety regulations being implemented in recent times mean that the search for more environmentally friendly chemical reagents is a must have. The use of organic depressants for flotation systems such as Cu-Mo sulfide bulk concentrates has become increasingly important because of the health, safety and environmental issues surrounding the use of inorganic depressants. Nagaraj et al. (1983) investigated the Cu-Mo sulphide flotation system using a structure-activity study of depressants. They found that a major advantage of organic depressants is the ability to tailor-make organic molecules to suit many requirements and thus, eliminate the guess work approach that was predominant in the industry.

Jan 1, 2019

By P. I. Laforest, M. S. Moats

"Antimony in smelted copper anodes has been shown to cause problems in electrorefining including brittleness of starter sheets. In order to improve deposit properties, a study was conducted examining the effect of anode chemistry on cathode ductility and electrolyte chemistry. Two industrial anodes with different molar ratios of As/(Sb+Bi) were used in laboratory electrorefining experiments with commercial electrolyte, and the addition of commercial glue and Avitone. The ductility of 21-hr copper deposits was evaluated by a 180° bend test. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and metallography were performed on unbent specimens to characterize the deposit structure. Increasing the anode As/(Sb+Bi) molar ratio from 0.54 to 3.8 resulted in an increase, on average, from four to eight bends to failure in cathode material produced. Significantly lower concentration of antimony (V) in the electrolyte was detected when operating with the higher molar ratio anode. The presence of (111) and (200) planes was noted in cathode material produced from the higher molar ratio anode suggesting that mixed growth character could be responsible for the observed increase in bend test results. The ductility of the starter sheet materials was improved by a higher anode molar ratio.INTRODUCTIONThe presence of antimony in copper electrorefining electrolyte has been reported to cause problems in cathode production (Hiskey, 2012; Peng, Zheng & Chen, 2012; Wang, Chen, Zhou-Lan & Lian-Sheng, 2006; Wang, Chen, Zhou-Lan, Wang, Xiao & Zhang, 2010; Wang, Chen, Zhou-Lan, Wang, Xiao & Tang, 2011; Wesstrom, 2014). To better understand the impact of antimony, laboratory scale electrorefining experiments were conducted using industrial inputs (anodes, cathodes and electrolyte). The influences of anode chemistry on the valences of antimony and arsenic in the electrolyte were monitored and correlated to physical cathode characteristics, such as a bend test to failure and crystallographic orientation.Commercially, starter sheets are produced by electrorefining impure cast copper anodes onto titanium blanks. The starter sheets are then hung in an electrorefining or electrowinning cell using loops of bent starter sheet material. These loops, in the absence of sufficient ductility, fail resulting in cathodes falling into the electrolysis cells. It is thought that the reduction in ductility can be related to anode composition; in particular, the molar ratio of arsenic to antimony plus bismuth As/(Sb+Bi). It has been stated that maintaining this ratio above 2:1 results in numerous improvements to electrorefining operations (Baltazar, Claessens & Thiriar, 1987; Kamath, Mitra, Radhakrishnan & Shetty, 2003; Krusmark, Young & Faro, 1995; Noguchi, Itoh & Nakamura, 1995; Wenzl, 2008)."

Jan 1, 2016

By C. W. Chao, M. Melashvili, F. Hilário

The processing of a bulk concentrate containing copper as chalcocite, enargite, bornite and chalcopyrite along with pyrite and precious metals of silver and gold was studied. A leaching study was undertaken to examine the application of the atmospheric acid leaching process to a bulk copper concentrate for copper recovery followed by cyanidation or thiosulfate leaching for gold and silver recovery. The extraction of copper exceeded 90% under some conditions and the recovery of gold and silver reached a maximum of 44 and 45%, respectively. A sample of bulk concentrate was roasted in air to oxidize the sulfides with release of sulfur dioxide followed by acid leaching of the roaster calcine and cyanidation of the acid leach solution. The copper extraction reached over 92% and the gold extraction exceeded 88%. The sulfur dioxide may be captured for acid production. INTRODUCTION The processing of a large primary copper deposit in Indonesia is under investigation. One of the possible routes for processing involves flotation of a bulk copper-gold concentrate followed by treatment by an atmospheric leach/SX-EW process for copper recovery. The atmospheric leach residue would then be leached for recovery of gold and silver. A second route involves roasting of the concentrate followed by acid leaching and SX-EW for copper recovery. The leach residue from the roaster calcine would then be leached for recovery of gold and silver. The roaster off-gases could be used for sulfuric acid manufacture, enabling the production of a valuable by-product. The Cobre Las Cruces (CLC) process (Munoz, Garcia, & Delgado, 2017) was designed to treat a resource of copper discovered close to Seville, Spain. The process was developed by Outotec with MK Gold (original project owner). INMET Mining subsequently purchased the deposit from MK Gold and built the copper processing facility. The CLC process is similar to the Mt. Gordon Copper process; except that OKTOP reactors have been installed instead of a low temperature, low pressure autoclave process. The plant was designed to treat 1.3 mtpa of ore at a grade of 6.2% Cu to produce 72,000 tpa of cathode copper over a 15 year project life. The main gangue mineral at Cobre Las Cruces was pyrite. The Cobre Las Cruces ore is therefore similar to a rougher flotation concentrate containing copper minerals and pyrite. The roasting of a rougher flotation concentrate can be designed to produce hematite, basic copper oxides and sulfur dioxide off gas. The acid leaching of the basic copper oxides may produce soluble copper for SX-EW recovery of copper. The sulfur dioxide off-gas may be used to make sulfuric acid.

Jan 1, 2019

By J. L. Jambor, E. J. Reardon, E. C. Appleyard, J. A. Cherry

Since the 1957 initiation of deposition of mill tailings at the Heath Steele mine, New Brunswick, periodic detailed studies of the tailings geochemistry and mineralogy have been conducted, thereby providing a unique opportunity to examine the geochemical evolution of a sulfide rich mine>tailings impoundment. When deposited, the tailings contained about 85 wt% sulfide minerals, 1 wt% to 3 wt% carbonate minerals, and 12 wt% to 14 wt% alumino silicate minerals. Mineralogical examination of samples of the tailings from deep in the impoundment indicates that little oxidation occurred prior to tailings deposition. The mill process-water deposited with the tailings was neutral to slightly basic and contained low concentrations of Cu, Pb, Zn and As. Sampling of the tailings five years after deposition indicated that sulfide-oxidation reactions, occurring near the tailings surface, had decreased the tailings-water pH and increased the concentrations of Fe, S042-, Cu, Zn and Pb (up to 10 000 mglL, 25 000 mg/L, 2.5 mg/L, 200 mg/L, and 4.5 mg/L, respectively). In 1975, ten years after decommissioning, the tailings could be divided into three zones: an upper oxidation zone in which sulfide oxidation is actively occurring, a hardpan layer, 15 cm to 20 cm thick, composed of tailings cemented by secondary Fe minerals, and an underlying reduction zone in which the tailings are relatively tin oxidized (Boorman and Watson, 1976). Chemical analyses indicated the presence of low-pH waters containing very high concentrations of SOi-, Fe, and other metals (up to 63 600 mg/L SO42-, 28 600 mg/L Fe, 10 mg/L Pb, 600 mg/L Cu and 4000 mg/L Zn), suggesting that there was a period of intense sulfide oxidation between five and ten years after tailings deposition. More recent sampling, conducted some 20 years after the end of tailings deposition, indicates that relatively little change has occurred in the last ten years, thereby suggesting that the hardpan layer has provided an impediment to the downward movement of dissolved constituents. Analyses of the tailings solids show increased accumulations of many metals at or near the depth of the hardpan layer. Evaluations of the long-term evolution of the tailings can be enhanced by comparison of descriptions of the tailings with descriptions of the gossan that overlay the massivesulfide orebody prior to mining. At Heath Steele, this comparison suggests that many of the mechanisms controlling the distribution of metals in the tailings will probably persist over geologic time.

Jan 1, 1992

By Daniel Hodouin, Mélanie Proulx, Claude Bazin

"Collector and frother are commonly used to induce the floatability of valuable minerals in flotation plants. These reagents are usually distributed down a flotation bank or sometimes added in a single location at the top of the bank. A review of the literature and some experimental results obtained from laboratory and full scale trials indicate that the way flotation reagents are distributed down a flotation bank may influence the flotation response of coarse particles. The paper summarizes these observations which show that the distribution of reagents is a potential tuning variable for process optimization.IntroductionFlotation is in many cases the only way to concentrate sulphide and some oxide minerals. Flotation is a concentration process that uses particle surface composition to induce the selectivity by mean of hydrophobic reagents. The influence of particle size on flotation was firstly analyzed in the 50's1·2 and intensively investigated in the 70's, early 80's and 90's3-18. Most of the observed results show the existence of an optimum flotation size range9 whose recovery is not significantly influenced by a reduction of collector dosage""18. This result brought the idea of using a small portion of the total collector dosage at the top of a rougher bank and to distribute the remaining through the end of the bank to ensure sufficient collection of the coarse particles that need more hydrophobic coverage to attach to air bubbles and be lifted to the surface.This paper discusses the idea of using the distribution of reagents down a flotation bank to tune the operation of the process. Unlike the literature on the effect of reagents (collectors, frother...) dosage that is dense, little attention has been put on the distribution of reagents in a flotation bank. Although research on this subject has not been pushed very far, some operators have recognized the potential of a strategic addition of reagents down a flotation bank19. Except for a few exceptions, the proportions of the reagents to be distributed down a flotation bank are decided according to operator's experience instead of process analysis in relationships with particle size. This paper recalls observations made by different researchers that lead to the idea of using the distribution of reagents as a tuning variable for the flotation process. The paper does not present a detailed analysis or optimization scheme for tuning the distribution of reagents, but analyzes some plant and laboratory results with a view toward the development of a testing methodology and ultimately a validation or rejection of the idea."

Jan 1, 1998

By P. C. Holloway, M. J. Collins, K. R. Buban

Historically, there has been little incentive to process copper-arsenic concentrates by leaching, rather than via established smelting operations. However, with ever tightening environmental emission standards and more arseniferous concentrates being produced, increasingly sophisticated and upgraded off- gas handling facilities are required in smelting operations, generating greater quantities of challenging metallurgical dust. In this context, oxidative pressure leaching offers distinct advantages. The current state of pressure leach technology delivers high extractions from copper concentrates, while producing an environmentally stable process residue, without atmospheric emissions of sulphur dioxide or arsenic. However, as was shown in an earlier study, copper extractions and environmental leach residue stability are impacted negatively by arsenic levels above 2.5 to 3.0 wt%. In further studies on pressure leaching of copper concentrates, Sherritt has developed process conditions that allow even highly arseniferous (> 7 wt% As) feed materials to be converted into environmentally stable residues, with excellent copper extractions. At the same time, pressure leach residues can be generated that are amenable to silver recovery via direct cyanidation, without pre-treatment by lime boiling or hot curing. The results of pilot plant test work are discussed. INTRODUCTION As the production of copper has expanded over the years, resource exploitation has extended beyond relatively clean, high grade and easily accessible ores, and copper sulphide concentrates increasingly come with higher levels of contaminants, such as As, Hg, Sb and Bi, and lower copper and sulphide sulphur concentrations. However, as concerns on the impact of the emission of such contaminants into the natural environment have mounted, import/export restrictions have made the trading of copper concentrate more difficult, and, in particular, the export of concentrates with greater than 0.5 wt% As; under ever tightening environmental emission standards, these lower quality concentrates can be a significant strain on the off-gas handling facilities in smelting operations. The processing of arsenic bearing copper concentrates is, therefore, an increasing challenge as copper producers seek to exploit more complex mineralization and to extend the life of their operations. In this environment, processing arsenical copper concentrates with high temperature pressure leaching (>200°C) must be considered as an alternative to pyrometallurgical processing. Leaching kinetics for copper minerals at these temperatures are rapid and acid is generated for potential use in heap leach operations. Pressure leaching of copper concentrates eliminates gaseous emissions of arsenic and sulphur, while generating environmentally stable residues, as measured by the Toxicity Characteristic Leach Procedure (TCLP) (Kalanchey et al., 2007). Both medium and high temperature pressure leaching of copper concentrates have also proven themselves technically on an industrial scale (Marsden et al., 2004) with high copper recoveries.

Jan 1, 2019

By G. Dodbiba, A. Otsuki, T. Fujita, J. Ponou, A. Shibayama

"The different types of nano to submicron particles, which are well-dispersed nano particles, coagulated nano particles or settled submicron particles, have been measured by the interactive force apparatus (IFA). The information is very useful for mineral processing treatment. The IFA can measure the particle size distribution in low to high concentration of particles in liquids and non-light transparent liquids. Here, mainly the emulsion and bubble size measurements are described.Emulsion (w/o type) is prepared with oil and water mixture. The nano to micro emulsion particle size is usually measured by light scattering method. The particle size distribution of emulsion of light oil measured by IFA agreed well with the one by the dynamic light scattering (DLS) method. The water size distribution in emulsions of gasoline is difficult for the small reflection index and C heavy oil is difficult for the black color by DLS method. The IFA can measure both emulsions.There are many methods to measure fine air bubbles, however, the finer nano size measurement apparatuses are DLS method and IFA. A “ghost” peak appeared in the large particle micron meter size in DLS method. The mean diameter in IFA is similar with DLS for the nano meter size. INTRODUCTIONParticle size distribution measurement of nano to submicron particle, emulsion and bubble size distribution are very useful for ultrafine particle separation and characterization of fine particles by the necessity of recent fine minerals separation (For example, Li et al.2016, Mikhlin et al.2016, Wang et al.2013). As for the size measurement of solid particles in liquids, three different types of nano to submicron particles, that are well-dispersed nano particles, coagulated nano particles or settled submicron particles, have been measured by the interactive force apparatus (IFA). The particle size distributions are compared with the one of dried particles measured by TEM or SEM. The well-dispersed nano particle size distribution by IFA is influenced by the nano size surfactant micelles and becomes smaller, when compared with the TEM result. The size distribution of nano size of magnetite particles in water is influenced by the isoelectric point and the mean diameter of coagulation becomes larger. The particle coagulation in diluted suspension is about 2nm smaller when compared with the higher concentration. The submicron nickel particle size distribution is well agreed the result by SEM. The coagulation effect is small in the submicron size of nickel powder in water (Fujita et al., 2013). In this paper, the emulsion and bubble size measurements are mainly described."

Jan 1, 2016

By Louise Corriveau

Exploration strategies have traditionally considered felsic gneiss complexes of the Canadian Shield sterile. This paradigm is challenged with the discovery of extensive granulite-facies Cu-Au, Fe oxides-bearing hydrothermal systems in the 1.4 Ga Bondy and 1.5 Ga La Romaine volcano-plutonic complexes of the Grenville Province. Early identification of magnetite-rich units in association with meta-exhalite and pelite-like units was key to targeting the search for mineralization, protolith information and indicators of pre-metamorphic hydrothermal activity during regional surveys of these frontier terrains. Textural evidences for a volcano-plutonic setting were found. There remained, however, numerous impediments to the recognition that the ubiquitous magnetite-laden units and associated aluminous gneiss were hydrothermal in origin. Many metamorphic reactions form magnetite at the amphibolite to granulite facies transition, and hydrothermally-leached rocks resemble metapelite or migmatitic restite, while carbonate alteration zones may look like marble or calc-silicate rock. Non-typical metamorphic mineral assemblages, modes and colours arise when hydrothermally-derived rock types are metamorphosed. These effective markers served as tools for reliable field identification of hydrothermally-altered rocks. In our case-studies, we traced pre-metamorphic hydrothermally-driven Fe-oxide precipitation in association with sericitization, albitization, pyrophyllite alteration, chloritization, and B enrichment by mapping unusually high contents of (1) magnetite or hematite, (2) biotite, (3) albite, (4) sillimanite, (5) orthopyroxene or phlogopite with cordierite, and (6) tourmaline or kornerupine. The unveiled garnetite, tourmalinite, and aluminous gneiss had assemblages that vary according to metamorphic grade and composition. To assess if high mode of Fe-Mg-Al phases resulted from partial melting (restitic residue) or metamorphism of hydrothermal rocks, we compared leucosome mineral assemblages, shape and amount with that expected of in situ partial melting reactions. In both areas there is no compelling evidence for these units to be restites. In contrast, the presence of lapilli in garnet-cordierite-sillimanite gneiss, though extremely rare, constitutes conclusive evidence for extreme pre-metamorphic high-sulphidation alteration of a volcanic protolith, while Fe-oxides or sillimanite-bearing nodules and veins record a less pervasive alteration. Geochemical research on element mobility and mass balance calculations further testified of an hydrothermal origin for these gneisses. The magnetite-rich units, together with calc-silicate rocks, garnetite, hornblendite, albitite among amphibolite, provided effective guides to sites of fluid discharge and led to the discovery of Cu and Cu-Au showings. With the presence of highsulphidation alteration, these features suggest early Cu-Au VHMS-type alteration halos within a predominantly felsic composite volcano-plutonic arc setting for both case-studies. Evidences for subsequent F-driven orthomagmatic fluid activity are also present.

May 1, 2003

By Li Qihou, Liu Zhihong, Liu Zhiyong, Yao Wei

Black copper sludge, which mainly contains copper, arsenic and a little antimony, bismuth, selenium, tellurium, is an important recyclable secondary resource. In this paper, selective removal of arsenic from black copper sludge by alkaline oxidative pressure leaching was studied. The influences of alkali concentration, leaching time, leaching temperature, oxygen pressure, liquid-solid ratio and other variables on the leaching rate of arsenic, copper and tellurium were investigated. The results were as follows: when the leaching process was conducted at initial alkali concentration of 1mol/L, liquid-solid ratio of 10, stirring rate of 500r/min, leaching temperature of 140°C for 5 h and oxygen pressure of 2.5MPa, the leaching rates of arsenic and tellurium were 85.43% and 59.7% respectively, and copper, antimony, bismuth were not leached. Hence, arsenic has been removed effectively from black copper sludge, while the valuable metals such as copper, antimony and bismuth remained in the residue that can be further recovered easily. INTRODUCTION Black copper sludge is a byproduct in the purification process of copper electrolyte. Arsenic, antimony and bismuth are major harmful impurities in copper electrolytic refining system. The accumulation of these impurities will cause adverse effects, such as the increase of electrolyte resistance and power consumption and deterioration of cathode copper quality (Wang, Liu, & Zhang, 2001). Hence, electrolyte purification is an essential part of the electrolysis process (Liang, Chen, & Guo, 2009). Electrolyte purification methods include electrowinning (Davenport, King, Schlesinger, & Biswas, 2002), solvent extraction (Navarro, Simpson, & Alguacil, 1999), ion exchange (Arroyo et al., 2017), coprecipitation (Wang et al., 2003, 2018; Xiao et al., 2007; Xiao, Cao, Mao, Shen, & Ren, 2014), activated carbon adsorption (Navarro & Alguacil, 2002), electrodialysis (Cifuentes et al., 2015), redox process (Zhou, Peng, Zheng, Ma, & Cui, 2011; Peng, Zheng, Zhou, & Chen, 2012; Zheng, Peng, Ke, & Chen, 2013), among which the electrowinning method is simple in operation and effective in impurities removal, making it the main process for current electrolyte purification. Some copper ions can react with harmful impurities to form complex black copper sludge by controlling the operation conditions of electrowinning process. Based on the estimated data provide by Davenport et al. (2002), an annual output of 400,000 tons cathode copper could produce 432-2168 tons of black copper sludge by electrowinning method. Black copper sludge contains 30~50% copper, 15~30% arsenic and a small amount of rare elements such as selenium and tellurium. Thus, recovery of valuable metals can bring huge economic interests. Moreover, arsenic in these sludges could cause significant environmental pollution. Therefore, effective removal of arsenic from these sludges is urgent and significant.

Jan 1, 2019

By George Efremidis, Markos Avlonitis, Elias C. Aifantis, Avraam Konstantinidis

"Nowadays, there is an increasing interest for realistic spring-block models capable of addressing precursor phenomena in catastrophic earthquake-induced landslides. By pre-defining the constitutive law between externally applied stress and induced local strain increments, the dynamic behaviour of the rock/soil slope can be studied by means of the distribution of slip events at the interface between the soil and the bedrock. It is shown that by relaxing the assumption of constant of externally applied stress rate and local strain increments, a robust 2D spring-block model can be formulated for studying triggered landslides. A cellular automaton is built in order to examine the dynamic behaviour and the stability of rock/soil slopes during the initiation of a landslide. The type and nature of the failure plane, as well as the triggering mechanism is studied. The different dynamic evolution modes of the slope can be mapped to specific shape parameters of the corresponding distributions of the incremental displacements. The proposed spring-block model can be used in order to understand, predict and minimize the impact of catastrophic landslides triggered by earthquakes.INTRODUCTIONEarthquakes have long been introduced as one of the major cause of landslides. Earthquake induced landslides are of great importance because they can cause considerable damage and life casualties. Existing analyses can provide landslide concentration, i.e. the number of landslide sources per square kilometer of surface area, as well as the distance from the earthquake source, which is related to the strength of shaking, the slope steepness, which is connected to shear stress, and finally the rock type, which is referred to material strength (Keefer, 1984). In spite of their great importance in social and economic life, earthquake-induced landslides are still considered as an open geotechnical problem. The dependence of the number and distribution of landslides on earthquake magnitude and ground shaking intensities is a crucial factor for the description and determination of the phenomenon. The hazardous types of earthquake-induced landslides, the most susceptible geologic materials and the reactivation of landslides originally triggered by nonseismic activity are some important topics for areas affected by landslides. Most of these areas present an irregular and asymmetric shape with respect to epicenters and fault ruptures, and also show a strong correlation with magnitude (Keefer, 1984, 2000). The number of landslides caused by an earthquake generally increases with increasing earthquake magnitude. Keefer (1984) presented a magnitude scale in order to quantify the number of earthquake-induced landslides. Malamud et al. (2004) have proposed an independent landslide-event magnitude scale on the earthquakes, based on the logarithm of the total landslides number associated with an event. The aforementioned studies try to relate the landslide magnitude scale to the visible effects of the triggering mechanisms."

Jan 1, 2015

By Louise Corriveau

A Targeted Geoscience Initiative transect in the eastern Grenville Province reveals an extensive VHMS-style cupriferous hydrothermal system among rhyolitic pyroclastic rocks of the Wakeham Group at La Romaine, Québec. The volcanic rocks outcrop sporadically along a < 10 km-wide by about 100 km-long belt correlated with the south-eastern extension of the Wakeham Group. This belt occurs among voluminous, magnetite-bearing, granitic gneiss. At Lake Musquaro, 1.51 Ga metarhyolitic to dacitic lapillistones and flows, locally with aluminous nodules and veins, are intruded by 1.49 Ga feldspar porphyries. This volcanic package was deposited on typical Wakeham Group arenite (< 1.52 Ga) interbedded with nodular, muscovite- and fibrolite-bearing gneiss, and minor marble hosting finely layered garnetiferous hornblendite, garnetite and magnetite-bearing coticule. The latter are interpreted as meta-exhalite and with the associated albitite (sodic alteration), aluminous veins (hydrothermal leaching) and magnetite-rich granitoids, they are key elements in the search for concealed mineral deposits in this area. At La Romaine, to the south, 1.5 Ga lapillistones outcrop structurally above metasediments and below a composite amphibolite unit of uncertain origin (lava or sills) with magnetite-rich (BIF?) units. An extensive zone of aluminous gneiss, with lapilli textures, provide evidences for severe hydrothermal leaching of the volcanic rocks prior to metamorphism. An adjacent siliceous vein-textured unit likely represent a zone of intense silicification (74 wt.% SiO2), while aluminous, hematite to magnetite-bearing veins in adjacent felsic gneiss (tuff?) preserve evidences for the sequence of alteration events. Despite granulite-facies metamorphism, the main characteristics of the amphibolite unit persist along the entire belt. This competent unit likely served as a cap rock; the garnetite, diopsidite and hornblendite it hosts provide effective guides to the sites of fluid discharge and mineralization. A number of Cu showings, modest in size, were discovered in this unit. Their systematic occurrence, in a structural-stratigraphic sense, indicates that this setting is attractive for mineral exploration despite high-grade metamorphism and deformation. Late-stage veins laden with fluorite crosscut these alteration zones, and are themselves metamorphosed, indicating that hydrothermal activity was polyphased. SHRIMP U-Pb ages obtained on detrital zircons (1 arenite) and on igneous zircons (5 volcanic rocks, 1 porphyry and 6 granitoids), pervasive arc-type geochemical signatures and presence of in situ rafts of barium-rich garnetite in the granitoids indicate that sedimentation and volcanism occurred between 1.52 and 1.49 Ga coevally with hydrothermal activity and emplacement of a sub-volcanic 1.5 Ga granitic batholith with early, 1.53 Ga tonalite intrusion. Such a geological context can sustain large-scale hydrothermal cells and development of VHMS, Cu-Fe oxides or SEDEX deposits.

May 1, 2003

By K. Thuro, S. Schneider, H. Kasling, P. Ellecosta

"One of the most important methods for material testing is the characterization of the hardness, which is defined as the resistance of a material to the penetration of another one. The methods according to Brinell, Vickers, Rockwell and Knoop are today the most common and standardized tests for metal. As they are developed for predominantly ductile materials like steel, they can’t easily be applied to rocks which react much more brittle under indentation. But just as steel, rock is composed of different minerals and has a specific microstructure. Its mechanical parameters are connected with the particular grains, their cohesion and interlocking, just like steel.The abrasivity of rocks and the accompanied wear of drilling tools today are mainly determined by simple and fast laboratory tests such as the Cerchar abrasivity test or the rubber wheel test. Such laboratory tests are good tribological tests, but there are limits. The Cerchar abrasivity test for example has weaknesses in extreme cases, that mean soft or very hard rock types. This leads to an underestimation of abrasivity, e.g. in poorly lithified sandstones or very hard, fine grained and extremely abrasive rocks. As mentioned, hardness characterizes, depending on the type of deformation, predominantly plastic (metal) or elastic properties (rubber). Rocks are in the range between these two extremes. Since the rock drilling process can be seen as a kind of penetration process on macroscopic and microscopic scales, we picked up the idea to characterize the interaction of rock materials and TBM-disc-cutters with hardness tests. In addition, this supports for a better understanding of the wear process on disc cutters. We used the hardnessdisparity concept after Cardu & Giraudi (2012) because wear can be understood as the interaction between the wear part and the material which causes the wear (tribological system). Several rock-forming minerals and some fine to coarse-grained monomineralic and polymineralic rocks were tested. In contrast to Cardu & Giraudi, we used in the first step of investigations the method after Vickers with loads up to 294.2 N (HV 30), depending on the estimated hardness to get bigger indentations and therefore as well information about the cohesion and interlocking of the minerals/grains. We also tested several associated disc cutters. First results show that with higher loads (HV 5 - 30) and at least 15 indentations, we get a structural hardness in fine-grained rock samples, which allows a good characterization of the elasticity and brittleness. Nevertheless, for the coarse-grained rock samples we need up to 40 indentations for a good characterization. Using this method, a prediction of disc cutter wear is feasible taking into account the hardness of the disc cutter steel. In this paper, we would like to present this approved method in material sciences to derive an additional parameter for the characterization of rock abrasivity and wear."

Jan 1, 2015

By C. Campero, C. Nicolau, L. Pagliero

The Chilean Congress has recently promoted desalination as a solution to meet the mining industry’s growing water demand. However, this rapid expansion of desalination infrastructure comes with trade-offs. This includes a significant energy cost for treatment, as well as socio-environmental impacts on indigenous communities, tourism, fisheries, and the marine ecosystem. This paper advances a regional-scale model for analyzing competing trade-offs through a case study in the Antofagasta mining region of Chile. Through geospatial data analysis in ArcGIS, new desalination infrastructure investments supplying water to mines are overlain with features of concern raised by communities during the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process, such as national parks, fisheries and exploitation areas for benthonic resources. The resultant model provides a test-bed for analyzing the cumulative effects associated with desalination expansion and for investigating scenarios to mitigate negative social-environmental impacts. The model simulates alternative scenarios for desalination locations and pipeline routes according to competing constraints (i.e. to minimize cost and energy constraints while also avoiding ecological and social hotspots). The ultimate contribution of the work is a demonstration of how the proactive adoption of a regional-scale infrastructure planning might have led to different desalination investment decisions. INTRODUCTION Chile represents the largest producer of copper globally, and holds approximately a third of the world’s estimated copper reserves. However, access to water represents a major constraint to industry expansion and creates conflicts with competing water users (Aitken et al., 2016; Côte et al., 2010). Recently, the Chilean Congress has promoted desalination as a solution to meeting the industry’s growing water demand, which is likely to lead to significant growth in desalination infrastructure to support large-scale mining projects that extract freshwater over a rate of 150 l/s1. By most recent projections, the Chilean copper mining sector is set to increase seawater use by 230% by 2029 (Faversham House Group Ltd, 2019). By the year 2015, Chile had 11 projects serving the mining industry and there are at least other 12 planned plants (Cochilco, 2015). While the use of seawater allows continued expansion of the sector without depletion of scarce underground aquifers, it is nonetheless accompanied with important socio-environmental drawbacks. One such challenge with desalination is the associated energy costs, expressed, both economic and environmental (e.g., CO2 emissions). This includes the energy required for reverse osmosis treatment facilities, as well as to pump water to inland regions at high elevations around 3.100 m.a.s.l in Chile. (Dixon, 2013; Knops et al., 2013). Additionally, the impacts of desalinated water use on flotation chemistry are generally poorly understood, necessitating the need for further research into the impacts, both positive and negative (Cisternas and Gálvez, 2018; Liu et al., 2011).

Jan 1, 2019

By Waghmarem Umesh V., Vinay Jain, Pradip, Beena Rai

"The hematite surface plays a vital role in several processes of industrial and technological importance, such as, in beneficiation of iron ores, catalysis, and geochemical processes. Therefore, it is imperative to have a clear description of the structure and composition of this surface, which forms the underlying basis for such a wide variety of complex phenomena. Particularly, from the perspective of beneficiation of Indian alumina-rich iron ore slimes and fines, a clear understanding of the surface structure and composition of hematite surface and its difference from the alumina surface will facilitate identification and/or design of selective reagents which can be used to separate the two minerals. In this work, the hydroxylated hematite (0001) surface was modeled using density functional theory (DFT). The computed planar relaxations are consistent with X-Ray crystal truncation rod diffraction results reported in the literature. It is demonstrated that only one type of surface, that is, the (OH)3-Fe-H3O3-R is stable under aqueous conditions, as the relaxations for the second type of termination: (OH)3-Fe-Fe-R do not match quantitatively with experiments suggesting that its coexistence with the (OH)3-Fe-H3O3-R surface is unlikely. A detailed analysis of this surface shows that two of the three (OH) groups are not connected to the Fe surface atom. Instead, they form H2O molecules by combining with the H-atoms on the O-layer beneath the Fe-terminated surface leaving the Fe surface-atom bonded to only one OH-group. This undercoordination of Fe-atoms on the surface explains its higher reactivity as compared to hydroxylated alumina.INTRODUCTIONThe hematite surface plays a vital role in several processes of industrial and technological importance. A few examples are: flocculation/froth flotation of iron ores (Ravishankar, Pradip & Khosla, 1995), catalysis (Muhler, Schlögl & Ertl, 1992; Samsonov, 1973), and geochemical processes (Brown, Henrich, Casey, Clark, Eggleston & Felmy et al., 1999; Sposito, 1989). Therefore, it is imperative to have a clear description of the structure and composition of the hematite surface, which form the underlying basis for such a wide variety of complex phenomena. Particularly, from the perspective of beneficiation of Indian alumina-rich iron ore slimes and fines, this is an important problem, as a clear understanding of the surface structure and composition of hematite surface and its difference from the alumina surface will facilitate identification and/or design of selective reagents which can be used to separate the two minerals. Our current research focus is at employing molecular modeling techniques to come up with such selective reagents and then test their efficacy in the practical scenario through selective dispersion – flocculation labscale experiments and subsequently plant trials. Obviously, the correct structure and composition of the hydroxylated hematite surface is a fundamental prerequisite for such investigations."

Jan 1, 2016