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By S Hapugoda, J R. Manuel, M J. Peterson

Microindentation testing using the square–pyramid–shaped Vickers indenter is a well-established technique to determine the microhardness of minerals and materials. However there is a paucity of published microhardness data from Fe ore samples. It is acknowledged that an iron ore’s particle mineralogy and texture is critical to its processing properties, and it is therefore considered that the microhardness of different mineralogical/textural types may also relate to these properties. Mineral microhardness potentially provides inputs to the modelling of breakage characteristics during comminution, as well as the relationship between mineral chemistry and microhardness, and mineral microporosity and microhardness. Microhardness can be determined as single crystal microhardness, for more coarsely microcrystalline samples, or as ‘aggregate microhardness’ for cryptocrystalline or finely microcrystalline samples.Variations in the texture and mineral chemistry of common Fe ore minerals (eg martite and microplaty hematite, ochreous and vitreous goethite etc) are well established and this study provides microhardness data on different textural forms of Fe (oxyhydr)oxides from a variety of different Fe ore deposits. The data indicated that in general, the mineral grain size, microporosity and texture were the main influences on Fe (oxyhydr)oxide microhardness. There were no apparent systematic variations between microhardness and minor element mineral chemistry, with the possible exception of Al content in goethite (for goethites with Al content >0.5 wt per cent), and for goethite total element contents >90 wt per cent (determined by electron probe microanalysis, EPMA). Higher Al concentrations and lower total element concentrations in goethite EPMA analyses correlated with lower goethite microhardness. Microporosity and grain size were more important than texture to hematite microhardness. Different textural forms of dense hematite (eg martite, recrystallised interlocking hematite and specular hematite) with similar grain size exhibited comparable microhardness. Microhardness values for hematite and hydrohematite with little or no evident microporosity were also similar, whereas more porous forms of martite, microplaty hematite or hydrohematite exhibited lower microhardness.CITATION:Peterson, M J, Manuel, J R and Hapugoda, S, 2017. Microhardness testing of hematite-goethite Fe ores – implications for their textural characterisation and geometallurgy, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2017, pp 319–330 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 24, 2017

By A. Drouin, D. Lemieux, C. Chouinard

"A gold bearing pyrite concentrate was treated at the demonstration scale (15 t/d) for the extraction of gold using a cyanide-free process. The pyrite was depressed in the flotation circuit in order to promote the flotation of copper and to achieve a sufficient copper grade to meet the copper smelter criteria. However, the recoveries of copper were 80% and only about 50% for the gold was found in the copper concentrate. The balance of the gold (50%) and copper (20%) contained in the pyrite concentrate as a reject from an overall flotation circuit. The gold grade in the pyrite concentrate is 5.40 g Au/t and copper about 0.77%. About 170 tons of pyrite concentrate were processed in the DST demonstration plant. The concentrate was first oxidized using a fluid bed to produce a calcine. Copper was then extracted as copper sulphate using diluted sulphuric acid. The residual solid was submitted to the DST chlorination process for gold extraction. Thereafter, the gold was recovered from the pregnant brine by precipitation over silica using DST proprietary process. The maximum gold recovery by chlorination was 90%. The average gold recovery by cyanidation of these calcines was 71%.IntroductionDundee Sustainable Technologies (“DST”) has developed a chlorination process as an alternative to the conventional cyanidation process for the extraction of precious metals from ores or concentrates. The technology offers viable and efficient gold recoveries and the ability to handle refractory ores and contaminated material (As, Hg, etc..). The process was successfully demonstrated on hundreds of samples provided by various mines, exploration and development projects and has evolved from laboratory experiment to demonstration at an industrial scale.DST’s chlorination process operates in a closed loop circuit, which implies that no liquid effluents are generated. The chemistry and process design allows precious metal deposits containing base metals to be treated viably. The tailings from the process are inert and non-toxic, sulphide depleted and thus non-acid generating. The efficiency of the process has demonstrated excellent gold recoveries within a fraction of the time needed for cyanidation to obtain similar results. The company completed in 2015 the construction of the first industrial demonstration plant operating with the DST technology. The plant has a capacity of 15 tons per day of mineral concentrate, and the ability to extract gold and silver utilizing DST chlorination technology.DST has tested its chlorination technology at demonstration scale on the refractory pyrite concentrate containing 5.40 g Au/t and 0.8 %copper. This auriferous pyrite concentrate, was by-product of copper concentrate respecting the copper smelter norms, is produced in a country where cyanide is prohibited and refractory to cyanidation. The pyrite concentrate was initially processed successfully (gold recoveries: > 90%) by the DST technology at laboratory (2011: 20 kg) and pilot (2014: 5 tons) scales to extract gold. About 170 tons of this pyrite concentrate were processed in the DST demonstration plant located in Thetford Mines."

Jan 1, 2017

By Lucas Gonçalves Generoso, Larissa Rodrigues de Carvalho Rocha, Gerson Evaristo de Paula Júnior, Beatriz Fausta Gandra

A eficiência na redução dos minérios de ferro no alto-forno é governada pela estrutura e permeabilidade das camadas de carga. A zona granular do alto-forno é a região onde a carga mantém a sua estrutura estratificada, decorrente do carregamento, sob a forma de grãos sólidos. Nessa região, as condições de permeabilidade determinam o perfil de distribuição do gás e, consequentemente, a eficiência térmica e química do reator. Na Usiminas, foi desenvolvido um ensaio de permeabilidade que permite avaliar a perda de carga em leitos formados pelas matérias-primas utilizadas nos altos-fornos, buscando as condições mais favoráveis ao fluxo gasoso. A partir deste ensaio, foi possível avaliar cargas compostas exclusivamente por sínter, pelota ou minério granulado, ou ainda combinações binárias entre estes. O sínter apresentou a maior perda de carga, seguido da pelota e do minério granulado. Apesar disso, o sínter foi o material que permitiu maior acréscimo de vazão do gás. Os ensaios realizados indicaram que 5% de material com granulometria menor que 5 mm é o limite para a concentração de finos do sínter, situação em que foi observado acréscimo de aproximadamente 50% na resistência à passagem dos gases para as velocidades correspondentes àquelas dos altos-fornos. O leito de melhor permeabilidade foi formado por 95% de sínter e 5% de pelota, seguido pelo de 100% de sínter, sem diferença significativa entre essas condições. Em geral, a combinação de sínter e pelota é mais benéfica para a permeabilidade do leito.

Oct 1, 2019

By Luis Tejada

El proceso de minado en la mina Cuajone comprende dos niveles adicionales a la plataforma de minado. Sin embargo, debido a las condiciones de inestabilidad del sector, se prevee modificar la secuencia de minado para descargar la zona de deformación y crear condiciones estables de los taludes. En este sentido, el presente trabajo comprende dos partes: la primera, describe la información geomecánica de los taladros de perforación diamantina, el mapeo de celdas y los ensayos de laboratorio como caracterización del macizo rocoso y la segunda, refiere al Modelamiento Numérico a través del uso del Código Universal de los Elementos Distintos (UDEC) para el modelamiento en medios discontinuos, donde se utilizó la información topográfica, litológica, estructural, propiedades del macizo rocoso y secuencias de minado.

Sep 13, 2001

By Mike Robotham

When RFQ?s are received they often contain detailed technical specifications which suggest a departure from the suppliers own customary approach to the design. Both client and end user are quite rightly influenced by their own experiences. The question is who is right, the client and his consultant, the supplier or perhaps a combination of these. This paper looks at some of the fundamental variances that often occur in the approach to the mechanical design of drum hoists, based on our experiences of recent years. Director of Engineering, Mike Robotham is a chartered engineer and has been with DavyMarkham for over 30 years. Having completed a craft apprenticeship he later joined the engineering department as a junior engineer. He has a wealth of experience of working on medium to large engineering projects in the field of mechanical, electrical and hydraulic equipment

May 1, 2011

By Carlos Magno de Lima Leonel

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo comparar o desempenho de processo entre espirais convencionais e espirais de grande diâmetro, na concentração de minérios de ferro. Foram realizadas campanhas de testes para levantar os dados necessários para comparar os dois modelos de espirais em estudo. Os resultados mostraram que as principais variáveis que afetaram a eficiência de separação nas espirais foram a abertura dos lemes e a concentração de sólidos na alimentação. A espiral de grande diâmetro obteve resultados melhores, mesmo sem a utilização de água de lavagem, porém mais testes serão necessários para uma conclusão definitiva.

Aug 16, 2017

By Martin H. Stanczyk

Bench scale, laboratory batch attrition grinding tests were made of a coarse commercial kaolin in a stainless steel, 5-inch-diameter attrition grinding machine to study the effect of a number of basic operating variables on particle size reduction and electric energy consumption. The results of the investigation showed that the more important operating variables influencing the efficiency of kaolin comminution and energy consumption requirements were type, size, and shape of grinding media, grinding media to clay weight ratio, peripheral rotor speed, clay slip pulp density, degree of pulp dispersion, and the angular arrangement of the rotor and stator bars. The tests also indicated that variables having less influence on grinding efficiency and energy consumption were pulp temperature, design of rotor cage, rotor clearance, rotor-stator bar interval, addition agents, pulp level, degree of pulp aeration, and chamber liners. The research showed that grinding media had the greatest influence on abrasion of machine parts and that spherical-shaped grinding media were superior to sharp angular or long bladed media with respect to media degradation, machine abrasion as well as grinding efficiency.

Jan 1, 1968

By Bruno Veiga Fontana

O uso do nitrogênio como gás de injeção através de plug poroso no forno panela pode ser importante do ponto de vista econômico, no entanto pode provocar pick-up excessivo de nitrogênio caso seja realizado de forma inadequada. No presente trabalho, são apresentados os resultados de testes de injeção de nitrogênio e nitrogênio seguido de argônio em aços para produtos longos. Visando compreender os processos de absorção e sua cinética, um modelo cinético é formulado e ajustado aos dados experimentais. O modelo cinético clássico descreve bem os resultados experimentais e permite o uso para previsões do efeito da injeção de nitrogênio sobre o teor de nitrogênio no aço. Observa-se que a cinética de absorção é controlada pela agitação da panela e pela presença de elementos tenso-ativos, notadamente o oxigênio, como esperado, de acordo com os modelos clássicos do fenômeno. A técnica da injeção de nitrogênio seguida de argônio é bem-sucedida economicamente e o modelo permite a previsão e o controle da absorção de nitrogênio pelo aço.

Aug 17, 2017

By J. A. Kosek

Work has been carried out under Bureau of Mines Contract No. HO395132 to develop and fabricate gas sensors for mining applications. Promising new instruments have been designed, developed, tested and supplied to meet BuMines requirements. These instruments include prototype 1) remote-sensing, diffusion-type CO monitors for mine operation which can be operated in conjunction with a surface computer, 2) control modules for alternate in-mine readout of the remote diffusion type CO monitors, 3) personal CO diffusion-type dosimeters and 4) personal NO diffusion-type dosimeters. In addition, retrofit modifications were made to update and optimize operation of CO and NO2 direct-reading type detectors provided under a previous contract. Studies were conducted to evaluate and demonstrate the availability of stable, portable N02 calibration sources for NO2 instrumentation. The use of selected, commercially available cylinder sources for NO2 instrument calibration were recommended. Additional studies were also conducted to investigate the feasibility of instrumentation for rapidly monitoring CO, NO and NO2 in diesel exhaust.

Jan 1, 1981

By M. Rebolledo, N. Mora, G. Zarate

For decades, the mining industry has been focussed to find an efficient and economically attractive process for the leaching of chalcopyrite. Jetti Resources has developed a novel hydrometallurgical alternative to extract metals of value from mineral ores that the mining industry has struggled to process. Jetti’s catalytic technology, whilst being especially advantaged for extracting copper from low-grade and highly refractory minerals, such as chalcopyrite, seamlessly integrates with existing heap leaching methods and downstream processing operations. The technology uses a catalyst which weakens the metal-sulfide bond in the crystalline structure of the chalcopyrite mineral and alters the structure of the passivation layer allowing the leaching process to continue. Metallurgical test work was conducted to examine the effect of ore variability, in terms of grade and copper deportment. The results presented in this study highlight the amenability of the technology and demonstrate that it is possible to enhance leaching performance of copper primary sulfides over a wide range of copper grades, from 0.1 to 2.2%. Further, it is concluded that despite the copper grade, the tests with increasing chalcopyrite content render copper recoveries up to 4 times higher compared to the tests under non-catalyzed conditions. Jetti’s catalytic technology is currently being evaluated at larger scales, namely a commercial dump leach operation and 50-tonne crib tests. The results obtained thus far are compared to the results from conventional sulfide heap leaching tests. INTRODUCTION For decades, the mining industry has been focussed to find an efficient and economically attractive process for the leaching of chalcopyrite. Chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) is the most abundant and recalcitrant of the copper sulfides (Singer, 2017). Owing to its abundance and economic importance, it is the most demandable natural source for copper worldwide. In fact, the projected demand for copper is further expected to rise much higher beyond the current demand by the year 2020 (Panda et al., 2015). Therefore, it becomes imperative to find low intensity hydrometallurgical technologies for the extraction of copper from chalcopyrite in ores of such low-grades that are un-economic to concentrate and to augment the supply by extracting copper from ores with complex mineralogy that cannot be concentrated (Watling, 2013).

Jan 1, 2019

By Alexandre Furtado Ferreira

O presente trabalho descreve o desenvolvimento de um modelo matemático de conservação de massa e energia tendo como base a medição intermediária da sublança (Modelo Dinâmico). O modelo utiliza como dados de entrada informações sobre massa e composição da carga metálica, valores adicionados de fundentes na corrida e as informações obtidas com a medição intermediária aos 88% do sopro de oxigênio calculado pelo Modelo Estático. O algoritmo foi desenvolvido em C# e está integrado na rede de Nível 2 da CSN. Os resultados de acerto simultâneo de temperatura e carbono final de sopro obtido pelo modelo dinâmico foram superiores ao Modelo Estatístico até então utilizado. Tal fato permitiu a redução do ressopro decorrentes de imprecisão do modelo e ganho em produtividade.

Aug 17, 2017

By Luana Lessa Pacheco, Antônio Vitor Magalhães Cota

With the sharp fall in commodity prices, the terms cost reduction and higher productivity have become subjects that are constantly addressed in the daily life of companies, since these factors represent a question of survival of the organizations. To achieve this, the search for continuous improvement of our processes in order to guarantee space in the market is a reality and necessity, so it is important that companies know their processes in detail and have the maturity to make decisions based on data and facts. Thus, this work aims to apply the Six Sigma methodology to investigate which are the variables that most influence the transportation process, carried out by large trucks, increasing their specific consumption of diesel, which is the second largest expense of a company. mining in the city of Mariana MG. The goal of the project was to reduce diesel consumption in the large transport fleet by 7.4%, from 0.32 l / t (average carried out from Feb / 16 to Jan / 17) to 0.30 by February 2018 , with an estimated gain of R $ 4.2 million. The results achieved exceeded the established target, reaching a 10% reduction in specific diesel consumption, totaling a projected real gain of R $ 6.4 Million, in addition to the reduction of 1,710.52 t of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Oct 3, 2019

By S. H. Badenhorst

Zacharias Lewala discovered a diamond at Grasplatz, near Lüderitz in April 1908. While this stone may not have been the first diamond to be found in this barren, inhospitable area, it most certainly was the stone that set off a chain reaction ultimately leading to the creation of Namdeb as we know it today. [ ]

Jan 1, 2003

By Leslie Perterson

O trabalho teve o objetivo de analisar a atual condição de descarepação da empresa X e fornecer a melhoria no processo por meio da substituição dos chuveiros, troca dos bicos de descarepação e até mesmo a combinação desses dois fatores. Para isso, foram avaliadas a velocidade do escoamento interno dos chuveiros, a turbulência gerada e eficiência dos atuais bicos instalados por meio de análise CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). Em posse desses dados, foi possível sugerir a configuração ideal dos chuveiros no que diz respeito ao diâmetro da tubulação, espaçamento de bicos e o bico de descarepação adequado para otimização do impacto, tendo o objetivo final de melhorar a eficiência da descarepação do processo de laminação da empresa X.

Aug 16, 2017

By Edmilson Renato de Castro

O presente trabalho apresenta um forno para a produção de ferro gusa por redução carbotérmica estimulada por micro-ondas de minério de ferro, na forma de pelotas autoredutoras. O forno de redução com potência regulável de até 15 kW de micro-ondas de 2.45 GHz foi especialmente projetado e construído para este processo. A estrutura do forno é em aço inoxidável e utiliza três geradores de micro-ondas focados para o centro de um aplicador cilíndrico. Com esta configuração conseguiu-se produzir um campo eletromagnético de alta densidade energética. As cargas de pelotas auto-redutoras, com massas em torno de 90 g e 30 g foram reduzidas em um cadinho de carbeto de silício. A potência de micro-ondas irradiada foi de 6 kW. A montagem do forno dispõe de uma balança elétrica adaptada para suportar o cadinho de redução. O presente forno dispõe de controle e medida da potência fornecida e refletida, permitindo medir a energia de micro-ondas efetivamente aplicada à carga. Esta característica permite realizar balanços de massa e de energia além de determinar a evolução da taxa de reação através da medida contínua da massa das pelotas sob redução, ao longo do tempo de processamento. Obtiveram-se curvas cinéticas de redução carbotérmica de minério de ferro incentivada por micro-ondas e de seu consumo de energia durante o processo.

Aug 16, 2017

By D A. Edmunds

The most important development that has been taking place recently relating to mining operations in New Zealand would generally be regarded as being the Resource Management Law Reform. This has been widely publicised by the Government as a comprehensive review of the laws governing New Zealand's natural and physical resources. Submissions have been sought and a free phone provided to encourage public participation. Recently a Discussion Paper has been prepared by the Core Group coordinating the review to explain progress on Phase One (Ministry for the Environment, Directions for Change: A Discussion Paper, Wellington 1988). It outlines Government decisions already taken which impinge on the Review and describes the possible models for resource management laws. However, it is possible that some fundamental practical issues of significance to the mining industry will not be addressed and may be lost sight of in the much wider issues which are to be covered. The purpose of our paper is to address one of these issues namely, the interrelationship between any new resource management legislation and the Conservation Act 1987 (as recently amended) in the context of Ministerial consents. The importance of this issue can be seen from the fact that as at 7 June 1988 there were 279 mining licence applications and 223 prospecting licence applications waiting to be determined by the Minister of Conservation. Since April 1987 only 19 mining and 13 prospecting licences have been consented to. In addition a major proportion of New Zealand's mineral resources are contained with land administered by the Department.

Jan 1, 1988

By M. Maldonado, J. A. Finch

"A flotation bank consists of a serial arrangement of cells. How to optimally operate a bank remains a challenge. This article reviews three strategies for optimizing bank performance: air profiling, mass-pull (froth velocity) profiling and Peak Air Recovery (PAR) profiling. These are all ways of manipulating the recovery profile down a bank, which may be the property being exploited. Mathematical analysis has shown that a flat cell-by-cell recovery profile maximizes the separation of two floatable minerals for a given target bank recovery when the relative floatability is constant down the bank. Available bank survey data is analyzed in respect to recovery profiling. Possible variations on recovery profile to minimize entrainment are discussed.INTRODUCTION Flotation is used to separate valuable minerals from each other and from gangue. To reach a target metallurgical performance, usually assessed in terms of concentrate grade and recovery, feed is passed through stages such as roughing, cleaning and scavenging. All these stages comprise serial arrangements of flotation cells known as banks, lines or rows. Although a bank is the simplest interconnection of cells in a circuit, i.e. the tails of one cell is the feed to the next cell down the bank, how to operate each flotation cell in a way that the whole bank performance is optimized remains a challenge. Significant efforts have been made towards understanding the effect of operating variables on the flotation performance of an isolated cell (Lynch et al., 1981; Finch and Dobby, 1990; Gorain et al., 1998). However in the case of banks the variables that can be manipulated increase with the number of cells in the bank and the problem of how to manipulate them to achieve optimum performance is difficult even disregarding variation in ore characteristics (Lynch et al., 1981, p. 16). In general, the more manipulated variables available the better for optimization purposes, however without clear guidance how to effectively use them it becomes an “embarrassment of riches”."

Jan 1, 2012

By Mario Samamé Boggio

El presente texto señala la historia de la minería en el Perú a través de dos períodos: Pre-historia e Historia. La Pre-Historia comprende dos épocas: Pre Inca e Inca.

Jul 1, 1983

By M. M. Singh, J. W. Brown

Three rocks of highly varied physical properties are selected for the first reported experimental study concerning microseismic activity of rock under tension to determine the effects of static fatigue, loading rate, repeated loading and rock anistropy compared to compression and bending loads. The microseismic method of detecting rock under deformation may be a great potential tool in surveillance and location in situ of dangerously stressed strata, as well as predicting rock failures. Noises emitted under load or the rate of energy (energy of noise pulses generated per unit time) are computed for varying conditions. The tests are conducted at constant load on a dead weight loading machine to eliminate all possible extraneous noises — an indispensable precaution — at various load levels. Experimental results are reported including the relation of total energy emitted to tensile strength of rock and the possibility of simulating a phenomenological model for microseismic activity. Plots of some of the experiments are included. INTRODUCTION Rock failure, whether on a large scale faulting in the earth's crust and rock bursts in mines, or on small scale ruptures of laboratory test specimens, generates transient vibrations in the rock mass. Mechanisms of intermittent deformation, such as twinning and cracking through and between mineral grains, also produce similar vibrations, but of very small amplitude. Such vibrations from both deformation and failure are referred to as microseismic activity, rock noise, or occasionally seismo-acoustical activity. An individual rock noise is sometimes

Jan 1, 1967

By J. L. Konchesky

In gasifying pulverized coal with steam and oxygen, the particle size of the coal fed to a gasifier should be as small as economically possible. A potential way to achieve this advantage is to reduce the particle size of the coal by passing the coal-steam mixture at high velocity through a heated tube coil before the mixture enters the gasifier. To evaluate this method the Federal Bureau of Mines flashed coal-water slurries in externally heated metallic tube coils to determine the extent of size reduction. The first of two different laboratory-scale apparatus reduced the average particle diameter of subbituminous C coal from 190 to 110 microns at an outlet velocity of 330 feet per second (f.p.s.). At the same outlet velocity, a second apparatus reduced the average particle diameter from 250 to 140 microns. An increase in velocity produced more finely divided coal, but variation in temperature and pressure had no effect except as they affected velocity. Virtually the same size reduction was noted for five ranks of coal at equal velocities. The rate of increase in particle-size reduction with increase in velocity decreased with a decrease in particle size. The pulverizing mechanism was concluded to be abrasion of the particles with each other and with the tube wall.

Jan 1, 1961