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Advanced process and equipment analytics have been around for a while. However, with accessible IT infrastructure and site maturity, it is possible to analyse, monitor, and control processing plants and equipment easily. These various disparate systems provide different reports requiring the involvement of various personnel and attention to different reporting platforms. For efficient harnessing of the systems? capabilities, as well as effective improvement and monitoring of process and equipment, a single point of entry is required. A process and equipment optimization solution was required at a concentrator in South Africa, focussing on the product stream of platinum group metal (PGM) concentrate from the UG2 Reef. The investigation of data to identify strategies for optimization was required to allow visibility into plant operations to guide operators, an easier method to identify process loop problems, identification of imminent equipment failures, and advanced process control to optimize throughput and stability. A collaborative effort between the client and General Electric Intelligent Platforms (GEIP) investigated data-driven solutions to each of the problems. With the focus on process optimization and asset monitoring, as well as equipment monitoring, a combination of approaches was utilized to address the various problem areas that were identified. Each was implemented separately in the control layer of the plant IT infrastructure. The integration was done in a centralized web-based reporting tool that integrated the detailed results from the various solutions. On the process control side, monitoring of control loops was included by calculating performance statistics that were reported daily to identify sub-optimally performing control loops and indicating potential problems. The advanced process control solution for this site includes a surge tank controller, stabilizing flow through the flotation banks, and preventing the surge tank from overflowing or running empty. Equipment monitoring was investigated, for preventative maintenance, by making use of statistical data models to indicate imminent equipment failure. These predicted alarm events included the cause for failure, drilling down, and allowing focus on a specific variable for preventative action. The results included a more stable flow through the mill, with fewer stoppages due to surge tank overflows or running empty. The causes for process drift could be identified and operators could react early. Alarms warning of equipment failure 2½ and 4 months in advance were identified in an offline analysis.

Jan 1, 2012

Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) operates a 50 Mtpy copper/gold/silver mine and concentrator on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. BCL has installed an in-house developed data logging and supervisory process control system using a DEC PDP 11/73 mini-computer in the mill and has recently installed a similar system in the crushing plant. Together with the central DEC VAX 11/780 computer, they form part of a high speed, fibre optic, local area network in the concentrator. The in-house developed software, known as BIAS (Bougainville Copper Information and Automation System), was developed as a low cost option to interface to a number of different existing plant input/output systems while providing the capability to make maximum use of computer networking facilities. The package includes the more usual control system colour displays and data logging features, but also makes provision for two novel features: (a) Any user connected to the computer network can access the system displays. This allows metallurgists and management to monitor (but not control) plant operation from their offices. (b) Specialized application programs for performing advisory and supervisory control, dynamic simulation, and data analysis are easily incorporated into the system. The mill process system currently runs rougher/scavenger flotation stabilizing control and general data logging. The crushing plant system currently performs data logging only; however it will soon be augmented with the facility to run dynamic crushing plant simulations. Future developments will concentrate on making greater use of the detailed information available from the mine's fully automatic truck dispatch system which runs on a VAX 11/780 computer. Milling process control will be expanded to examine possible economic control of the operation of regrind and cleaner flotation circuits. An advisory water management system to optimize water supply within powerhouse generating capacity constraint will also be investigated.

Jan 1, 1987

"Chairman: Dr R. E. ROBINSON Rapporteur: Dr R. P. COLBORNPapers:The simulation of crushing plants by W. J. WhitenSimulation of multi-component flotation plants by B. K. Loveday and G. R. MarchantComputer control of flotation at the Ecstall concentrator by M. P. Amsden C. Chapman and M. G. ReadingModel for the design and control of flotation plants by R. P. KingIn presenting his paper Dr W. J. Whiten outlined the basic concepts on which the control model was based and emphasized the fact that empirical models based as much as possible on theory were used to simulate each unit of the crushing plant. The final parameters of each model were computed using data collected from the plant. Unfortunately, the system did not permit accurate extrapolation but was successful when operating in the region from which the parameters were calculated.He concluded from the results of the test work that the crusher amperage was a critical parameter and that the utilization of the model gave a 15 per cent increase in the plant output. This was because the model predicted that a marginally fine grind would provide a significant increase in throughput. Dr Whiten elaborated on what constituted the multiple spline regression, explaining that it was a least-squares curve-fitting technique in one or more dimensions, where the calculation of coefficients in analytic expressions was replaced by the calculation of typical points on a very smooth curve called a spline function. The emphasis was placed on the shape and value of the curve or curves instead of on the coefficients as in analytic regression. A spline function was the line drawn between all points constituting the data set.Dr B. K. Loveday commented that the simulation was unusual in that the optimum throughput was considered to be the maximum throughput, which, surely, was limited by the crusher size. He also emphasized the importance of the interaction between both crushing and grinding circuits and added that in practice the optimum operating conditions were inter-dependent. Dr Whiten replied that in the case of the plant under consideration, the crushing process was not, in fact, the limiting operation.Mr C. E. Clifford indicated that the model was being used to simulate a number of crushing and grinding circuits at Mount Isa Mines. He reported that the model simulated the circuit satisfactorily for primary and secondary gap settings of 0,625 in. to 0,375 in., but that adjustment had to be made to the model parameters for gap settings of 0,250 in. to 0,125 in.In reply to a question from Dr D. M. Hawkins, Dr Whiten said that he preferred to use low-order splines with smaller segments rather than high-order spline functions with large segments."

Jan 1, 2014

By M. Jacobs

Keywords: Smelting, converting, sulphide, sulphide smelting, platinum, platinum group metals, PGM, base metals, nickel, copper, matte, slag, furnace, electric furnace, Söderberg, electrode, granulation, converter, flash drier, sulphuric acid, acid plant, Ausmelt, Sirosmelt, pyrometallurgy, metallurgy, Anglo Platinum, South Africa Waterval Smelter complex is situated in Rustenburg, in South Africa?s North West Province. The smelter objective is to process wet concentrate to produce crushed, slow-cooled, sulphur-deficient nickel-copper matte rich in platinum group metals (PGMs), gold, and base metals for despatch to the Magnetic Concentration Plant at the Base Metals Refinery. Throughout its history, the smelter complex has been continuously upgraded in line with increasing production demand, changing feeds, environmental initiatives, and advances in available technology. The smelter receives filter cake and slurry from Anglo Platinum concentrators and joint ventures. Wet concentrate is fed through a flash drying process utilising coal-fired, fluidised bed hot-gas generators, to produce dry feed material for the electric furnaces and slag-cleaning furnace. For primary smelting, two electric furnaces are used, each with a rated capacity of 34MW. Furnace matte, containing the bulk of the base metal sulphides and PGMs, is tapped periodically into refractory-lined ladles and granulated using high-pressure water jets, then dried through electrically powered pneumo-driers to become the main feed to the Anglo platinum Converting Process (ACP). Slag is tapped semi-continuously, granulated, and treated through the slag mill. The ACP treats the combined matte output of Waterval, Polokwane, and Mortimer smelters. It is a top-blown furnace, with furnace matte, air, and oxygen being injected into the converter via a lance submerged in the slag. Converter matte is tapped and bottom cast into moulds, slow-cooled, crushed, and despatched to the refineries. Slag is granulated and dried for recycling to the slag-cleaning furnace. ACP slag is fed to the slag-cleaning furnace along with a reductant and a sulphur source. Slag-cleaning-furnace matte is granulated for processing by the ACP, while slag is granulated and processed in the slag mill. The slag mill and flotation circuit treats granulated slag from the electric furnaces and slag-cleaning furnace to recover entrained matte containing valuable PGMs and base metal sulphides.

Jan 1, 2006

By P. K. Van Manen

Anglo Platinum's Polokwane Smelter is situated outside Polokwane, in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Wet concentrate is received from various concentrators along the Eastern Bushveld Complex. Approximately 60% of the total concentrate received is from UG2 Reef, and 40% is from Merensky Reef. The concentrate is dried in two flash dryers, and smelted in a single 168 MVA furnace. A PGM-rich nickel-copper matte is cast, crushed and transported to Rustenburg for converting. The plant was commissioned in March 2003. The wet concentrate, containing 12-18% moisture, is weighed, sampled by one of two auger samplers, and off-loaded into a concentrate shed, either directly through a grizzly into a hopper, or onto the floor. From the shed the concentrate is conveyed to 12 concrete silos. Each of the two identical flash dryers can be fed from six silos. From the flash dryers concentrate is transported pneumatically to a 3 000-ton dry concentrate storage silo. The flash dryers are rated at a nominal 66 tph of dry concentrate at 14% moisture, while the furnace can smelt 90 tph of dry concentrate. Therefore both flash dryers are required to operate when the furnace runs at design throughput. Each flash dryer consists of a hot gas generator (HGG), a disintegrator and drying column, and a section for gas/solids separation. In the HGG, gas heated up to 700° C is produced from the combustion of coal peas in a fluidized sand bed. The hot gas and wet concentrate are introduced to the disintegrator at the bottom of the drying column. The disintegrator breaks up any lumps of concentrate, and throws the concentrate up into the drying column, where it travels co-currently with the hot gas. A fan draws the hot gas from the drying column and through the gas/solids separation section, which consists of three primary cyclones, a multiclone and a high-temperature bag house. The dry concentrate reports to a 450-ton dry concentrate storage bin. A portion of dry concentrate is recycled to the wet concentrate feed in a paddle mixer, so that concentrate that is too wet does not enter the disintegrator. The drying column outlet temperature is controlled at 120° C. Coal is received by road, screened for oversize and conveyed to a 400-ton concrete silo. From here it is pneumatically conveyed to a small feed bin at each of the HGG' s. The optimization work consists of process control improvements relating to the HGG outlet temperature, to control the drying column temperature during the ramp-up of the HGG outlet temperature and bag filters. Furthermore a heat balance is used to evaluate options to increase the instantaneous drying capacity of the existing equipment. The coal consumption derived from the heat balance is compared with the actual coal consumption. The purpose of the optimization work is to achieve an operating schedule for the flash dryers such that they operate simultaneously for as short time as possible. Most of the time one flash dryer should operate, allowing maintenance to be done on the other flash dryer, while drawing down the dry concentrate stock. Keywords: Anglo Platinum, Polokwane Smelter, pyrometallurgy, metallurgy, platinum, platinum group metals (PGM), base metals, flash drying, fluidized bed.

Jan 1, 2006

By J. Ndlovu, R. Hundermark

Keywords: Anglo Platinum, Polokwane Smelter, pyrometallurgy, metallurgy, platinum, platinum group metals, PGM, base metals, nickel, copper, sulphide smelting, electric furnace, Söderberg, electrode, matte, slag, flash drying, matte casting, crushing, granulation Anglo Platinum?s Polokwane Smelter is situated outside Polokwane, in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. Wet concentrate is received from various concentrators along the Eastern Bushveld Complex, with 60% of the total concentrate received being from UG2 reef and 40% from Merensky reef. The concentrate grade differs from 35 g/t to 110 g/t, and from this a PGM-rich nickel-copper matte is produced. The furnace matte produced is sent to the ACP converter in Rustenburg. The Anglo Platinum concentrators, from which concentrate is received, are Lebowa, Potgietersrus, Amandelbult, and Union, as well as the joint venture Modikwa. The concentrate is fed to two flash dryers that utilise coal-fired, fluidized-bed hot-gas generators to produce the hot gas that will drive off the moisture, leaving a fine bone-dry concentrate to feed to the furnace. The dry concentrate is pneumatically transferred to a storage silo before being transferred to the feed bins situated above the furnace. Lime, if required as a flux, may be transferred separately to the furnace feed bin by a pneumatic system. The concentrate and lime is fed from the feed bins onto airslides and into the furnace. The feed rate is automatically controlled, and the system is set up to optimize the power to feed ratio. The electric furnace is nominally rated at 68 MW and the power is transferred into the furnace using six 1.6 m diameter Söderberg electrodes. Concentrate is melted by energy generated when electric current passes through the electrodes and resistive slag layer. On melting, two immiscible phases form: slag and matte. Furnace matte, containing the bulk of the base metal sulphides and PGMs, is denser than slag and collects naturally at the bottom of the furnace. The furnace is constructed of a combination of refractory brick and water-cooled copper coolers. The furnace sidewalls and hearth are cooled by air drawn through the area by cooling fans. The hearth and matte zone are constructed from refractory bricks. The copper coolers reside only in the slag zone of the furnace along the entire perimeter of the furnace. One staggered row of plate coolers is installed above the waffle coolers along the perimeter of the furnace. Matte is tapped periodically through one of the two matte tapholes into 35-ton refractory-lined ladles, and cast into matte ingots on a casting machine. The cooled matte is discharged onto a concrete slab for cooling and then transferred by front-end loaders to the crushing plant. The matte is first crushed in a jaw crusher and then a Rhodax cone crusher to a size of 2 mm before it is loaded into tankers and sent to the ACP. The low-grade slag is tapped from the furnace through a water-cooled copper insert into a short water-cooled copper ?hot launder? which discharges into a granulation cold launder. The granulated slag slurry flows to three rake classifiers, from which the coarse slag is discharged onto a conveyor to dewatering silos. The dewatered slag from the silos is dumped. The water overflow from the classifiers reports to two thickeners where the water is clarified, and the thickener underflow is returned to the rake classifiers. The smelter is a zero-effluent plant and all the water from the slag silos where the slag is dewatered, as well as the storm water, is pumped to the process water dam from where it is pumped back into the plant for process water use. The off-gas from the furnace is drawn through a forced draught cooler and into a high temperature baghouse. The dust collected in the baghouse is pneumatically transferred into bins above the furnace and is fed via the concentrate airslides. The cleaned off-gas is then vented through the main stack.

Jan 1, 2006

By E. J. McLean

Gold mineralisation at Bendigo is exclusively associated with quartz reefs, commonly found within or near anticlinal fold hinges. The gold is typically coarse grained (0.5 mm to 5 mm), free milling and displays a complex, nuggetty distribution within the veins. This ore is highly amenable to gravity recovery processes. As the Bendigo operation is not permitted to treat whole ore by a cyanide leach/CIL circuit, the flow sheet is more complex than conventional gold recovery circuits. Primary gold recovery is from a gravity circuit closing the grinding circuit to a bulk gravity concentrate and from a flotation circuit treating cyclone overflow to a bulk float concentrate. The plant capacity is relatively low by current gold industry standards at 600 000 tpa. Re-establishing gold production at Bendigo has presented several challenging, and sometimes competing, issues in process design and operation. The mine, process plant, associated services and infrastructure are at Kangaroo Flat, a low density, semi-rural zone in the southern urbanisation of the Bendigo metropolitan area. One of the main processing challenges during the design was the competing comminution requirement to avoid over-grinding, which would flatten or smear the characteristic nugget gold and hinder effective gravity gold recovery, whilst also providing sufficiently well liberated particles that would respond well to flotation. Important, non-metallurgical challenges were to minimise impacts on the local community from noise, dust, air emissions, visual impact, water egress and off-site traffic.

Jan 1, 2007

This paper presents the development of a regrind facility design at BHP Billiton's Leinster Nickel Operations (LNO) in Western Australia. The recovery opportunity was identified from an analysis of plant operating data together with scanning electron microscope (SEM) measurements on relevant tailings streams from LNO. A laboratory procedure was developed to determine the potential recovery improvement of installing a regrind facility at LNO. The last step in formulating the process flow sheet and defining the process design criteria was to construct and operate a pilot plant, which incorporated four banks of flotation cells and an Xstrata M20 Isa Mill. Pilot plant on/off trials were used to define the expected metallurgical benefit. A prefeasibility engineering design and cost estimate was completed. Following a successful internal business evaluation, a feasibility study is currently underway.

Jan 1, 2007

By G. M. Cresswell

The 2 360 t/h two module Phola coal preparation plant represents anew era of large plant in the Witbank coalfield designed to extend its life to 2020 and beyond. The plant uses the optimum processing model for Witbank coals, receiving a feed coal size of -50 mm, wet screening it into coarse and small coal fractions 50 x12 and 12 x0.63 mm before processing them in parallel through two primary DM cyclone sections, in order to make a 27.5 MJ/kg export floats product. The sinks are processed through a common high density DM cyclone section to produce a 21.5?23 MJ/kg thermal coal middlings product. The plant design incorporates the largest size DMS equipment used to date in South African coal preparation plants, i.e. 1 150 mm large diameter pump fed DM cyclones and 4.2 m width banana screens. The fine coal is conventionally processed by spirals, whereas the raw coal slimes are filtered using automated plate and frame filter presses and added to either the middlings or discards depending on its quality. The paper describes the database, innovative design concepts, construction, and commissioning.

Jan 1, 2010

By R L. Bowers, D S. Smit

In light of soaring commodity prices, Nkomati has investigated the potential of processing additional low grade nickel ores to add to their reserves. The Chromititic Peridotite Mineralised Zone (PCMZ) was identified as one ore type with the potential of producing a high grade nickel concentrate. In addition to the nickel, copper, cobalt and PGM?s, the ore also contains a significant amount of chromite which adds substantial value to the project. Pyrrhotite, pentlandite, chalcopyrite and chromite are the dominant minerals within the ore, which on average grades around 0.23% Ni and 12% Cr2O3. The PCMZ ore contains excessive amounts of fibrous silicates which makes it a challenging float, with gangue control as the key element to success. Extensive laboratory testwork, which eventually led to a pilot plant campaign, was undertaken with the aim of developing a process route for treating the PCMZ ore. Several flotation circuit configurations were tested and results from the optimal circuit indicated that a nickel concentrate grading at 8.5% is achievable at a recovery of 78%, with substantial recoveries for the copper, cobalt and PGM co-products. The chromite concentrate, grading at 45%, was extracted from the flotation rougher tailings via a spiral plant. These promising results were incorporated into the plant design and are currently being evaluated in a bankable feasibility study, which will see the current 100ktpm MMZ concentrator being upgraded to a 250ktpm PCMZ concentrator as part of Nkomati?s Phase II expansion.

Jan 1, 2007

By Martin Banda, Gift C. Chisakuta, Moses Chabinga

KCM made a major modification to the Nchanga Tailings Leach Plant (TLP) changing the circuit from feeding post leach thickeners in parallel with leach discharge for solid ?liquid separation to a Counter Current Decantation (CCD) configuration utilising most of the existing equipment. The new circuit is aimed at improving copper recovery from approximately 70% to 79% through enhanced wash efficiency. The re-introduction of CCD circuit at elevated throughput of 46 000-tpd design was made possible due to the EIMCO E-Duc technology design which is an auto-dilution system that enhances solids settling rate. Commissioning (manual operation) which accommodated on-going operational requirements was phased and completed in January 2004. The circuit stabilised in subsequent months and in March alone an all time record copper recovery of 81.8% was achieved which contributed an extra 779 tonnes copper above the plant?s projected production plans. 100% of the project cost was paid back by end of April 2004 This paper discusses the work involved and the challenges faced during the re-commission

Jan 1, 2005

By A. S. Geldenhuys, L. S. Leal Filho, D. A. Deglon, T. C. Souza Pinto

The Brucutu iron ore mine (Minas Gerais, Brazil), is Vale`s largest iron producing operation achieving around 21 million tons by flotation of iron ore pellet feed per annum. The run of mine is mainly composed of hematite (70%) and quartz (30%). After preparation (comminution and sizing), the slurry is submitted to reverse cationic flotation of quartz under basic conditions (pH=10.5). Corn starch (500g/t) is used to depress Fe-bearing minerals and alkyl (C10) ether amine is the collector for quartz. The flotation circuit is arranged in a “coarse” section utilizing dated 28m3 square Wemco cells, and a “fine” section utilizing modern 160m3 tank cells. The “coarse” flotation circuit treats material from the deslime cyclone underflow while the “fine” circuit treats material from the deslime cyclone overflow and the pulp product from the “coarse” circuit scavenger 2 bank. Evaluation of process performance is of high importance as even small gains can lead to large improvements for this high throughput plant. Cell-by-cell samples of the froth products, selected feed and pulp-products were analyzed for flow-rate, overall chemical composition, and particle size distribution. Bank-by-bank samples of the feed, froth and pulp products were analyzed on an assay-by-size basis. In addition, the flotation cells were hydrodynamically characterized and gas dispersion parameters assessed. The detailed experimental program resulted in a thorough characterization of the process and enough information to produce a calibrated floatability component model. Longer mainline residence time results in significant Fe2O3 losses while yielding little benefit in terms of SiO2 grade. Scavenger 2 has twice the residence time of scavenger 1 while having to treat only 10% of the SiO2; resulting in high Fe2O3 recoveries to the froth and poor separation. In addition, it is shown that the Fe2O3 exhibits true flotation behavior resulting in increased Fe2O3 losses. The detailed data collection campaign coupled with in depth data analysis and modelling gives unprecedented information and highlights avenues for optimization that was previously unknown. Keywords: Froth Flotation, Process modelling, Process evaluation, Metallurgical survey

Jan 1, 2020

By S. Krishnannair

Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) is an effective data-adaptive multimodal tool for monitoring chemical processes. However, monitoring multiscale signals using principal component analysis obtained from the multilevel decomposition of process signals using basic SSA assume the upper control limits of monitoring charts (" ) to have a Gaussian distribution. This assumption deteriorates the performance of basic SSA when applied to the monitoring of nonlinear processes. To address the issue in this paper, the kernel density estimation (KDE) was used to estimate upper control limits of monitoring charts for basic SSA based nonlinear process monitoring techniques. The monitoring performance of the resulting basic SSA-KDE approach was then compared with a basic SSA approach of which upper control limits of the monitoring charts were determined based on a Gaussian distribution. Application on nonlinear dynamic simulated process and base metal flotation plant chemical processes showed that the SSA-KDE approach provided better overall performance than the SSA approach with Gaussian assumption-based upper control limits for its monitoring charts. Keywords: Fault detection, singular value decomposition, singular spectrum analysis, kernel density estimation

Jan 1, 2020

By L. Rademeyer, P. Mazzoni, C. Kubank, F. Brown

The Corridor Sands deposits of heavy mineral sands represent the largest known economic resource of titanium dioxide minerals. The West Block of Deposit 1 alone contains Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources of 1.7 billion tonnes containing 4.14 per cent ilmenite, estimated in accordance with the JORC standard, sufficient for at least the first 20 years of mining. Total mineral resources are estimated to be approximately 17 billion tonnes at 5 per cent Total Heavy Minerals (THM). Test work was undertaken on the West Block of Deposit 1 over a period of two years in order to develop the process flow sheet to bankable standards. Geological, mineralogical and metallurgical test work was integrated from a pre-feasibility stage to the full bankable stage. The process flowsheet was developed with the central objective of the production of saleable products, of consistent quality and acceptable to the respective end-markets. The aim of this paper is to describe the way in which the various challenges for the project have been addressed by using integrated geological and mineralogical information, which has resulted in the development of a complete flow sheet. The process confirmed that material within customer specifications could be produced, once various metallurgical parameters were understood. This flow sheet development progressed from laboratory test work through to full field trials at pilot plant scale on large consignments of mineralized material. The flow sheet was developed to such a standard as to be used with confidence for both engineering design and cost estimates, and to determine the recovery factors to be used in financial evaluations. Keywords: Corridor sands, Flow sheet, Pilot plant Titanium dioxide

Jan 1, 2003

By J. H. Zietsman

It has previously been observed that industrial high-titania slags display a compositional invariance, remaining close to stoichio-metric M3O5. The present study focuses on this invariance and the phenomena which may cause it. The invariance was studied using thermochemical calculations and a mechanism is proposed for the observed behaviour. The mechanism suggests that a combination of thermochemical equilibrium and transient slag solidification and melting results in the observed compositional invariance. The proposed mechanism provides new insights and prompts questions about other mechanisms in the smelting process.

Jan 1, 2004

By J. H. Zietsman

It has previously been observed that industrial high-titania slags display a compositional invariance, remaining close to stoichio-metric M3O5. The present study focuses on this invariance and the phenomena which may cause it. The invariance was studied using thermochemical calculations and a mechanism is proposed for the observed behaviour. The mechanism suggests that a combination of thermochemical equilibrium and transient slag solidification and melting results in the observed compositional invariance. The proposed mechanism provides new insights and prompts questions about other mechanisms in the smelting process.

Jan 1, 2004

By A. E. Landsberg, K. C. Corin, G. Stroebel, J. A. Miller, M. Becker, H. J. J. Gordon

Geometallurgy represents an integrated approach to mine planning and operation whereby the naturally occurring ore variability and its effects on all key downstream activities in the mine life cycle are considered. Process mineralogy is one of the key components of this integrated approach. This paper focuses on understanding some of the mineralogical variability across the Swartberg Cu-Pb-Zn sulfide ore in South Africa and its consequent effects on flotation performance. This process mineralogy project is motivated by the planned changeover and expansion of the Black Mountain Mines concentrator to process solely Swartberg ore compared to the run-of-mine blend currently being treated at the plant. Eight samples spanning the main lithological units of the ore body are described using quantitative mineral-textural data and bulk sulfide batch flotation performance to establish five process mineralogical or geometallurgical units comprising: quartz-pyroxmangite-magnetite, quartz-amphibolemagnetite, quartz-magnetite, garnet-magnetite-quartzite and mica-quartzite ores. Important mineralogical characteristics affecting Cu, Pb and Zn recovery, grade and selectivity specific to the different ore samples are discussed. Ultimately, the use of ore-specific process mineralogical and geometallurgical knowledge allows for better mine planning and plant optimisation. Keywords: Flotation, polymetallic base metal sulfide ore, process mineralogy, ore variability

Jan 1, 2020

By D. Chetty

Process mineralogy forms an integral part of geometallurgy, with ore body characterisation being but one piece of the puzzle in optimising value derived from ore. This value is not only financial, but importantly speaks to sustainability from environmental and social standpoints. The reactive approach of traditional process mineralogy is increasingly being replaced by predictive methods in the geometallurgical sphere, for which mineralogical information must be timeously acquired on judiciously selected sample sets to understand ore variability and its impact on orebody processing. Such processes are not only metallurgical, but must incorporate mining and waste management protocols. Dwindling resources like water and energy also demand innovative approaches for lowering consumption and/or promoting recycling along the value chain. Addressing such challenges relies on appropriate characterisation of ore behaviour under different process regimes. Coupled with this, emerging characterisation tools are increasingly applied to understand the mineralogy of unconventionallypresented and difficult-to-process ores to meet societal and technology demands. Such tools are often accompanied by the generation of large, computationally intensive datasets, for which data management and storage are key requirements, particularly when deciphering temporal trends in ore and process variability. This paper will elaborate on these themes with examples that highlight the importance of process mineralogy throughout the minerals value chain. Keywords: Process mineralogy, ore characterisation, geometallurgy

Jan 1, 2020

By P. A. Laxen, P. J. van Staden

Alternative procedures for the recovery of gold from old sand dumps are discussed, with emphasis on the use of heap leaching. The modification of material to improve its permeability prior to heap leaching is not currently receiving much attention in South Africa. The channeling of solutions through heaps and the high consumption of reagents sometimes ascribed to heap leaching can, as shown by the results described in this paper, be lessened by desliming of the sand prior to heap leaching and the treatment of the resulting slimes fraction by agitation leaching and carbon-in-pulp. This combined procedure results in a higher overal recovery of gold. Alternatively, the sand can be heap-leached as it is after agglomeration with lime and cement, which improves the mixing and neutralization of the material, as well as lessening the probability of channeling.

Jan 1, 1988

Bacterial leaching represents an unusual problem in biochemical engineering, because the substrate for bacterial growth is not supplied directly, but is a product of another reaction, the leaching of mineral particles. Leaching arises from the bacterial oxidation of ferrous ions to ferric ions, which in turn oxidize the mineral. For the bacterial dissolution of pyrite, these reactions are: [ ] (Y represents a stoichiometric yield factor, and N represents the amount of bacteria.) Equations [1] and [2] represent a cyclic auto-catalytic system since more ferric ions are added to the system with an increase in the extent of leaching.

Jan 1, 2000