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By Haipeng Li, Jacob Masliyah, Barun Gorain, Jian Huang, Qingxia Liu, Zhenghe Xu, AuTec Innovative Extractive Solutions Ltd.

"Froth flotation is widely used to selectively separate one or more minerals from an ore over a wide range of particle sizes with high efficiency. Bubble–particle attachment is one of the most critical steps in flotation. The objective of this project is to demonstrate the need for an innovative dual bubble generator to improve flotation efficiency. This dual bubble generator was designed to generate two different sizes (micron size and typical flotation size) bubbles. The micron size bubbles generated on the crevices of particle surfaces in venturi type of cavitation tubes enhanced the attachment of fine particles to the bubbles in conventional flotation systems. They also acted as a secondary collector, which has the potential to reduce operation cost and improve flotation recovery. The dual bubble generator was evaluated for a double refractory gold ore with 3g/t Au, 1.5 wt% TCM (total carbonaceous matter) and 0.7 wt% sulfides. The results were compared with those obtained using a commercial bubble generator. Compared with the commercial bubble generator, the dual bubble generator showed not only a higher gold recovery, but also an improved separation efficiency, demonstrating the potential of dual bubble generator in fine particle flotation.INTRODUCTIONFroth flotation has been widely used in mineral processing and waste water treatment. However, flotation has been proven inefficient for fine particle recovery although it becomes increasingly inevitable to process fine particles with the depletion of easy processing ores. The critical problem of fine particle flotation is the low attachment of fine particles to flotation size bubbles due to their low collision rate. Based on a commonly acceptable flotation model given by R =F*[Pc*Pa*(1-Pd)], the probability of bubble–particle collision (Pc), attachment (Pa) and particles detachment from air bubbles (Pd) collectively determines fine particle recovery (R) (Yoon and Luttrell, 1986). Since Pc = (3Dp/Db) where Dp and Db are diameters of particles and bubbles, respectively, bubble size and particle size impact the bubble-particle collision in opposite directions. It is evident that the probability of bubble–particle collision decreases with decreasing the size of particles, leading to a low recovery of fine particles. In this case, reducing the bubble size and/or increasing the apparent size of particles by fine particle aggregation are clear means to improve fine particle recovery."

Jan 1, 2016

By A. McLean, A. Hue, K. Le, Y. D. Yang, P. Wu

While the treatment of relatively inexpensive ferrosilicon alloys is a potential refining route in order to generate solar grade silicon, phosphorus is one of the more difficult impurities to remove by conventional processing. In this project, the use of an electromagnetic levitation technique was used to investigate the dephosphorization of ferrosilicon alloy droplets exposed for various times and temperatures to a hydrogen-argon gas mixture. It was found that approximately 40% of the phosphorus was removed from an 85%Si-15%Fe alloy after 20 minutes exposure at approximately 1673K, to a gas mixture containing 48.5% hydrogen. Further dephosphorization is expected with longer reaction times. The effect of increasing temperature was found to be insignificant, although processing at lower temperatures is not only economically advantageous, it also decreases evaporative silicon losses, thus resulting in a more efficient process.

Jan 1, 2015

By J. M. Harrison

"The Nor-Acme gold mine is near the shore of Snow lake, northern Manitoba, about 75 miles east of Flin Flon. The claims that form the nucleus of the present property were staked in 1927 by C. R. Parres, but it was not until 1941 that diamond drilling disclosed the potentialities of the deposit. In that year a large-scale drilling programme was begun under the direction of F. Ebbutt, of the Howe Sound Exploration and Development Company. Two orebodies were outlined containing about 5,000,000 tons of ore assaying $5.25 in gold per ton. In August, 1945, construction of the mining plant was begun.All information and interpretations contained in the following brief description of the deposit were obtained from surface mapping.GEOLOGYThe ore lies at the contact between a coarse, basic, pyroclastic rock, which is the hanging-wall, and grey, acidic lavas and sediments, which form the footwall. These rocks are cut by irregular basic intrusions that vary in composition from diorite to hornblendite, and by small acidic dykes . Tourmaline is locally common in the hanging-wall rock near the ore.The ore occurs in brecciated, silicified, and ·slightly carbonatized rock. Arsenopyrite is the main sulphide and the gold is associated with it. Pyrrhotite is locally abundant and minor pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, and cubanite have been noted. Two orebodies are known, the Dick and the Toots. The Toots, which is much the smaller of the two, is about 1,000 feet west of the Dick."

Jan 1, 1954

By Robert B. Parsons

"A t last the legal red tape which has tied up flow-through share financing has been cut. New rules effective for deals signed after 1986 simplify flow-through financing by removing the necessity f or cumbersome agency relationships. But there is no free lunch-the new rules require increased government reporting. And beware federal tax reform promises to have a good look at the new flow-through share rules. IntroductionFlow-through shares have always worked better in theory then reality as an effective financing tool. The concept is straightforward: a transfer of risks, tax deductions, and potential returns. But the mechanics of the old flow-through rules made the transfer of risk impractical to impossible by placing the responsibility for incurring Canadian exploration expense (CEE) on investors. The new rules are significantly more realistic, shifting that responsibility to the issuing corporation. However, every silver lining must have a few clouds around it. In the case of the new flow-through rules, the more obvious negatives are increased reporting requirements and reductions in CEE eligible for flow-through by amounts of assistance received. The new rules are effective for deals signed after 1986, however, so a few old-style deals are still around. Practical Difficulties with Old RulesThe old rules which applied to investments in flow-through shares were structured so as to make it the responsibility of the investor, rather than the issuing corporation, to perform the Canadian exploration expense for flow-through. Since most investors had neither the expertise nor the inclination to incur the CEE, this requirement necessitated the use of cumbersome arrangements whereby the investors would appoint an agent (usually the issuing corporation) to incur CEE on their behalf. Although the issuing corporation might consequently be the party which actually spends the flow-through share funds on CEE, the awkward legal structure of such an arrangement made the investor the ""principal"" incurring the CEE. As such, the requirements of the old rules were met and the investors could receive their flow-through share s."

Jan 1, 1987

By O. Alonso-Gonzalez, F. Nava-Alonso, A. Uribe-Salas, R. Pérez-Garibay, C. Jimenez-Velasco

A current problem in gold production is the presence of copper minerals which dissolve during conventional cyanidation practice. The dissolved copper causes several problems in the different stages of the process. This issue is the base for copper elimination/recovery methods such as the Sulphidization, Acidification, Recycling, and Thickening (SART) process, which is currently used in gold production plants around the world. Even though the process is well established, new challenges appear as the composition of the solution varies from ore to ore, in some circumstances affecting the performance of the SART process. This work presents a thermodynamic study and experimental tests performed to understand the role of the initial copper concentration and sulfur addition, on the efficiency of the copper removal. For a constant cyanide concentration, an increase in the initial copper concentration causes a decrease in copper removal; high sulfur/copper molar ratios favor copper removal. We demonstrated that the cuprous sulfide formed from solutions with high ionic strength, presents better sedimentation rates than solutions with less ionic strength. For solutions with low sedimentation rates, the use of some pretreatment is necessary to facilitate the sedimentation such as addition of flocculants, particle recirculation and the used ultrasonic pretreatment.

Jan 1, 2014

By G. B. Harris

It has long been appreciated that chloride chemistry has a number of advantages over the more traditional sulphate route for both extracting and separating metals. Modern materials of construction, coupled with the development of a more cost-effective and efficient hydrochloric acid regeneration technology mean that chloride-based processes are now more competitive and attractive. Such processing routes are able to recover more of the contained metal values in a feed, including iron in a benign and/or marketable form, and particularly the so-called rare and rare-earth elements which are increasing in demand in our electronic age. These factors, therefore, add appreciably both to the overall economics of a project, but also offer a much more sustainable approach to our dwindling natural resources. Additionally, chloride-based flowsheets can be much more environmentally-friendly, offering practical alternatives to two of the biggest headaches faced by the industry, namely cyanide usage and the generation of red muds. This paper presents a brief theoretical background, focusing on the latest developments of ferrous iron oxidation and the low-temperature, selective hydrochloric acid regeneration process, which is the key unit operation for any chloride flowsheet, and discusses in general the advantages of the chloride approach. Several recently-developed flowsheets, which have been tested at the miniplant level, are presented for gold, base metals, titaniferous magnetites and lead-silver ores wherein the advantages of considering a chloride approach are highlighted.

Jan 1, 2014

By J. -P. Tshibangu, M. Ramos da Silva, F. Descamps, C. Schroeder, J. -C. Verbrugge

"The mechanical behaviour of rock materials is largely influenced by the stress state and pore pressure; this needs to be considered in many applications, such as petroleum engineering, tunnelling or stability of underground excavations.Conventional triaxial tests (d2 = d 3) are generally used to assess the influence of confining and pore pressure. In this work, those tests are performed on a porous rock named Sorcy limestone, along with more advanced stress paths like triaxial extension (d 2 = d 1) and purely deviatoric tests with independent pore pressure control. Those tests are combined to a true triaxial study on the dry rock in order to investigate the effect of true triaxial stresses and, hence, build three-dimensional limiting envelopes accounting for the influence of pore pressure.Three-dimensional limiting envelopes of dry Sorcy limestone are built in meridian and octahedral planes. The shape of the octahedral sections changes with the mean stress from triangular to hexagonal and then quasi circular. At even higher mean stresses, the evolution continues towards a triangle with apexes oriented in the direction of triaxial extension stress states. In meridian sections, the deviatoric stress first increases with the mean stress. The transition between this deviatoric mechanism and the cap surface occurs at different mean pressures depending on the Lode angle.Terzaghi’s effective stress is found to govern the yield and plastic behaviour of saturated Sorcy limestone. Triaxial tests show that the limiting envelope does not depend on the loading path (conventional compression and purely deviatoric stress paths). In triaxial extension, the brittle-ductile transition is observed for a higher mean pressure than in triaxial compression, as previously found for true triaxial tests on the dry rock.Finally, it is shown that upon appropriate normalisation, the dry and saturated yield envelopes come very close one to each other. This suggests that only the size of the yield envelope changes between dry and saturated state (pore pressure = 5 MPa); its shape does not seem to evolve."

Jan 1, 2015

By Lynn C. Fister

"Coal is rapidly becoming a major alternative to oil. According to the World Coal Study Final Report, total world coal trade could approach one billion tons annually by the year 2000. To facilitate the increased production and export market potential of the coal producing countries, advancements must be made to improve the transportation systems. Coal slurry pipeline systems could play a significant role in achieving these market forecasts.There are three major components to a coal slurry system the preparation plant, the pipeline and the dewatering plant. The experience and expertise gained from the Consolidation Coal Company system in Ohio, the Black Mesa system in Arizona and ETSI's Coal Evaluation Plant demonstrate that slurry pipeline technology is proven and available to meet the coal transport challenge.The costs of transporting coal by slurry pipeline can offer significant savings, as about 70 per cent of its costs are fixed. The reverse is true for railroads, where 75 to 80 per cent of the costs vary with inflation. All forms of transport-rail, barge and pipeline-will be required to move the massive volumes of coal. Coal slurry systems can provide a viable transport alternative.IntroductionThe importance of coal as a major alternative to oil is now well known and accepted throughout the world. Increasing oil prices over the last eight years have had a serious effect on national economics, particularly in those countries that are heavily dependent on oil. Coal can replace oil as the principal fuel source which could support world economic growth over the next two decades. This is the main conclusion of the World Coal Study (WOCOL) Final Report, published in May 1980.The product of that report was a result of considerable deliberation by key industry leader s and energy experts. The underlying message of the World Coal Study is that our energy and economic problems can be faced with confidence if coal use doubles by the early 1990s and triples by 2000, and if steam coal trade expand s considerably."

Jan 1, 1982

By J. R. Rau

While refuge chambers are common place in most underground mining projects, there are different philosophies as to what life support systems are to be considered and how these systems are to be applied. Case studies in the underground mining industry have examples of emergencies where the external compressed air and power supply to the refuge chamber were compromised due to proximity of services to the fire location. In 2005, The Department of Industry and Resources, Western Australia, drafted guidelines that listed specific requirements for refuge chambers which included a secondary life support system that would operate independently of external sources. The objective of this document is to examine what critical life support systems are essential for safe entrapment in the event of an emergency and to examine considerations for their application.

Aug 1, 2013

By Rashid Bashir

Shaft sinking through solid rock, which contains little or no water, poses little difficulty. However, when loose, water-bearing strata have to be contended with, water control measures, and pumping facilities are needed. Shaft sinking in Athabasca Basin requires sinking through water bearing sandstone which can be highly fractured. Intersection of local zones of extensive fracturing results in the potential for high water inflows with pressures up to 5 Mpa. Grouting is carried out ahead of each shaft sinking interval as water control strategy. In the grouting method, liquid cement is forced into the water-bearing earth under very high pressure. Shaft sinking performance which can be quantified in terms of rate of advance is highly dependent on the days spent at each interval grouting before sinking can advance to the next interval. This paper presents the shaft sinking experience in Athabasca basin and how some of this is translated into Geoscientific Investigations for Future Shafts. A comparison of Geoscientific data collected from future shafts at McArthur River and Millennium Mines is compared to historical data collected from pilot holes, where shafts have already been sunk. The paper concludes with the strategies for better integration of hydrogeological, geotechnical and geophysical data.

Aug 1, 2010

By G. Barbery, P. Dauphin

"In order to obtain reproducible and reproducible results in batch flotation, researchers have tried various approaches, from normalized testing, to modifying existing cells, and even designing new machines. The paper reviews the basic concepts that must be fulfilled in a laboratory flotation machine, and present the FLOTOMATEC design, which results from five years of testing and development. In addition to providing accurate measurements of air flowrate, power consumption, agitation speed, the cell eliminates most operator induced errors. Results of experiments comparing FLOTOMATEC to a conventional cell, as well as reproducibility tests are given. Introduction The use of batch flotation machines in mineral processing research and development is very common. These machines have been used for many years without almost any change in their design, instrumentation or automation. Various authors since Raffinot (1960) have criticized the available designs, especially with respect to the large errors that are introduced by the manual mode of operation. Barbery et al. (1986) have presented a review of the problems involved in laboratory testing in flotation research.Batch laboratory machines should have the following characteristics:"

Jan 1, 1989

By Matthew Blecha

The Tribag copper deposit is one of the rare examples of mineralized breccias in the Canadian Shield. The breccia is a pipe-like body, and consists of granitic, diabasic and volcanic fragments embedded in a vuggy, quartz-carbonate matrix. The mineralization is essentially chalcopyrite and pyrite, with minor molybdenite, sphalerite, galena and other sulphides. The main ore zone is saddle-like in shape, and is enveloped in a zone of chloritization, sericitization and clay-mineral alteration. It is suggested that the breccia is of the diatreme type. Introduction T HIS paper is based on eighteen months of field work, including surface and underground geological mapping and core logging, and on the survey of relevant literature. No significant amount of laboratory work has been done as yet. Location and Access The Tribag Batchawana property is located 40 miles north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, about 10 miles east of Lake Superior. A 17-mile, all-weather road connects the property to the Trans-Canada highway to the south, and 4 miles of a 12-mile road remain to be completed to link it to the Algoma Central Railway to the northeast.

Jan 1, 1965

By Normand Champigny

The Forces of Change ? The current business environment ? What can we expect for the future on management of physical assets ? The impact of maintenance on production costs ? What is RCM is doing is improving business performance ? The beginnings of RCM The RCM II Process ? RCM II is a structured process that involves employees in determining the best failure management tactics for systems and equipment in their operating context ? The method is an effective approach to risk and cost reduction as well as failure management

May 1, 2002

By G. Reuben Yourt

This paper consists of two main parts. The first, under the heading Preparations, deals with suggested preparations to be carried out in advance so that loss of life might be prevented should a fire occur. The second part, under the heading Fire Procedure, deals with actual organized procedure to be followed for the preservation of life if and when a fire occurs. The writer realizes that these preparations and procedures may be to some extent applicable to only a few mines with a relatively simple vein system and that each mine would need to formulate a procedure to conform to its own particular conditions, scope, and degree of complexity. Preparations 1. - Ventilation Control The objective in ventilation control in the event of a tire underground is to keep the travelways, through which men must pass to reach surface, supplied with air not deficient in oxygen and free from gases and smoke. Without some control of the volume and direction of the main air currents flowing through the mine, the success of removing men to surface might be seriously hampered. ? This control is achieved by means of mechanical ventilation forcing air through desired airways and workings with the assistance of doors to regulate the volume and direction of the air flow. In connection with fans and doors, the possibility of short-circuiting should always be taken into consideration, as it can often nullify the value of a fan and possibly trap men in dangerous atmosphere if the short-circuiting involves the fire area. Main fans are often installed so that they can be reversed in a short time. However, fans should not be reversed unless this is found absolutely essential by those in authority. Misjudgment in this respect could cause the loss of life to men who might naturally take refuge in what they believe by experience to be a fresh air stream. Another precaution to be taken is to see that doors in airways are fastened in a fixed position so that they cannot be sucked or blown open when the fan is reversed, otherwise short-circuiting could possibly render the fan useless.

Jan 1, 1947

By E. H. Mulligan

THE ERRINGTON B-I mine is located on the Errington orebody of Steep Rock Iron Mines, Limited, at Steep Rock Lake, Ontario. In 1946, this orebody entered the shipping lists of the Lake Superior iron ranges as an open-pit operation. During the period 1946 through 1953, the mine produced a total of 9,000,000 tons of iron ?ore. In 1950, as the mine approached the economic limits for open-pit operations, ground was broken for an underground development to exploit the deposit at depth. The mine is designed for an ultimate production of 1,500,000 tons per year by the block-caving system of mining. The initial shaft is 1,200 feet deep and will produce or-e from the 700 and the 900 levels. The 1,100 level will be used as a drainage level and as a haulageway for waste rock, which is hoisted to surface by skip. Ore from the two production levels moves by a system of ?ore passes to a crushing plant located below the 900 horizon and is hoisted from this point to surface by conveyor belt. At the present time, all material handling on the levels is by tramming, but as tram distances increase conveyor haulage will probably be installed. The initial stage of the Errington B-1 development is expected to produce 6,000,000 tons of ore over a period of four years. The second stage will require deepening of the shaft and development of lowe1? production levels. The conveyor hoisting plant will be extended to serve these new levels. We visualize the mining of this orebcdy down to 2,500 feet by these methods.

Jan 1, 1956

By G. G. Li

"A dynamic ventilation-modeling package, VREX, was used to simulate the mine activities through tracking the equipment movements in underground workings and determine the airflow demand for a new production scenario in a ventilation-on-demand (VOD) system. It incorporates the mine development data from a discrete event simulation and balances the ventilation network using the CANVENT ventilation solver. A case study was performed to demonstrate the capabilities of the software, evaluate the performance of the network and determine the potential energy savings for implementing VOD in a deep mine operation.INTRODUCTIONThe ventilation cost of an underground mine can be significant—up to 50% of the mine’s energy consumption could be used to run fans and provide heat/refrigeration to meet the specified production environment for workers and equipment. The VOD system has proven to be more efficient in operating the fans and supplying the amount of air corresponding to the mine activities taking place in underground workings (Hardcastle, Kocsis, & O’Connor, 2006). In order to properly solve and evaluate the VOD system, a dynamic ventilation modeling software VREX—the ventilation rules engine has been developed to simulate the mine activities and determine the airflow demand for each production scenario within an operation period (Dasys & Cameron, 2011).VREX is a decision support tool, backed by the CANVENT mine ventilation solver (Li, Kocsis, & Hardcastle, 2009), for determining the outcomes of network configuration changes over time. The software incorporates the mine development data with ventilation modeling through the discrete event simulation (DES) performed by SimMineTM. As it simulates the air requirements for different vehicles and activities, VREX can evaluate both the performance of the ventilation system and the potential economic benefits of making operational or technological changes (Pritchard, 2010). For example, the model can be used to assess the economic and environmental impacts arising from modifying regulations to support the use of electric or lower emission vehicles. The combination of DES and ventilation modeling provides a new technology to generate the production scenarios according to mine schedules and activities and to determine the potential benefits for various levels of ventilation control, such as time interval and work shift change."

Jan 1, 2019

By F. A. Auld

"Traditionally deep shaft sinking from the ground surface was carried out using drill and blast methods. Although large diameter blind shaft drilling has been carried out successfully on numerous occasions previously, including as early as 1852 in Germany (Auld, 1995), little attempt has been made until more recently to mechanise the shaft sinking excavation process using down-the-hole machines. This paper reviews the development of deep shaft sinking machines from the early 1970’s up to the present day. INTRODUCTION Mechanical excavation methods can significantly improve excavation performance, in order to access natural resources faster, and labour safety is increased compared to drill and blast operations. However, shaft sinking machines need to be capable of accommodating all the basic requirements for deep shaft sinking, namely: 1. Excavation and muck removal 2. Ground stability control 3. Groundwater ingress control 4. Temporary lining installation 5. Permanent lining installation and watertight sealing 6. Ventilation 7. Secondary means of egress for personnel In addition, how the machine operates in the shaft is an important factor, either slung on ropes from a surface headgear or on its own in the bottom of the shaft. An all-embracing machine which can deal with all of the above conditions is impossible but many of these requirements can be incorporated into a single machine. Deep shaft sinking also differs greatly from normal tunnel construction which employs the use of either a roadheader arm installed within a shield or a full-face tunnelling machine for excavation. Hydrostatic pressure and ground stability problems increase with depth, whereas in tunnelling the depth is normally relatively shallow and the aforementioned factors remain approximately constant along the tunnel length. DEEP SHAFT SINKING MACHINES All the shaft sinking carried out previously in the UK was by the traditional method of drill and blast. Elsewhere, in other parts of the world, attempts have been made to mechanise the process."

Jan 1, 2019

By C. C. Li

The D bolt is a new type of energy-absorbing rock support element recently developed in Nor-way. The D bolt is not only able to accommodate large rock deformations, but can also provide a load-bearing capacity as high as that of rebar bolts. Furthermore, the anchoring quality of the D bolt is similar to rebar bolts because of its multi-point anchoring design.

May 1, 2009

By T. A. Lloyd

"This paper indicates the extent to which Canadian coal mine operators have taken advantage of developments in the science and technology of coal that would allow them to better satisfy changing market demands through improving the properties of their products. At some mines, no attempt is made to alter the coal from its as-mined condition, but at most mines grading into various size ranges and hand-cleaning of lump sizes is undertaken.Over-all, Canada Jags behind most of the other major world coal producers in the proportion of its coals being processed in wash plants. To some extent, this is due to the fact that a high proportion of the coal production satisfies market demands without such treatment. On the other hand, a few of the coal mines in Canada, which produce about 25 per cent of the nation's total coal output, have in operation some of the most modern coal beneficiating equipment available, including jigs, flotation cells, water cyclones, centrifuges, disc filters and thermal dryers."

Jan 1, 1968

By T. Bhambhani, D. R. Nagaraj

"Ultramafic Ni ores present significant challenges in processing in that both recoveries and grades are not satisfactory, due to the presence of Mg silicates in large amounts. Significant quantities of xanthates and CMCs are generally used for their recovery by flotation. Additionally, given that some of these ores are processed under acidic conditions, CS2 generation due to xanthate decomposition presents some safety hazards. Technology to replace xanthate has been developed for which the safety and health issues are absent. Collector S-10294 shows significant improvements in Ni and overall S recovery at a dosing rate of one half that of xanthate. New polymeric modifiers have also been developed that help reduce the Mg content of the concentrates at very low dosages. The reagents are custom designed for use in normal or hypersaline water, and acid or alkaline conditions.INTRODUCTION The use of xanthates in sulfide mineral flotation is reported to have started as early as 1925 (Nagaraj 2005). The reagent is now ubiquitous in the mining industry, accounting for 40-50% of total collector consumption. In recent years, the development of more selective reagents has rendered xanthates largely obsolete in Cu flotation. However, xanthates continue to be sold in large amounts in the Au, PGM and Ni flotation industry, where bulk sulfide flotation is required. The low cost and easy availability is the largest driver for the use of xanthates in the minerals industry. Of particular interest to this study is the use of xanthates in the flotation of Ni sulfide ores. About 60% of the world’s annual nickel output is obtained from sulfide Ni ores (Hoatson, 2006). A strategically important category of these ores is the ultramafic hosted sulfides, such as those of Western Australia and Canada. These ores are characterized by low Ni grades (<1%), with the Ni minerals being pentlandite, violarite, millerite and mackinawite, and gangue minerals comprising an array of altered Mg silicates, mostly serpentines. The challenges associated with treating these ores are well documented (Eltham et al. 1973; Claridge et al. 1975). One challenge is that Ni recoveries from these ores are lower. This has been attributed to the increased pulp viscosity, as discussed in detail by Vasudevan et al., 2010. Additionally, Mg silicates tend to report to the concentrate in large quantities, which is problematic for two reasons: a) concentrate dilution, and b) the high melting point of Mg silicates tends accelerate wear on the refractory lining of smelters. This has been attributed to network transport to the froth phase via bubble flux and entrainment (Patra et al, 2010)."

Jan 1, 2012