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Iron, chloride and manganese are the three major impurities transferred to copper electrowinning tankhouses via chemical and/or physical entrainment. The control of these impurities via bleeding of tankhouse electrolyte is costly. Recently, Eichrom Industries have developed an improved iron control process and tested this process in a pilot study at the Girilambone Copper Company (GCC). The patented process utilizes a fixed bed ion exchange reactor filled with Eichrom's Diphonix® resin. Iron is loaded on the resin and subsequently eluted by a cuprous sulfate eluant. The control of chloride and manganese has been studied using different chemical techniques. The removal of chloride from electrowinning electrolytes was tested using precipitation of chloride as cuprous chloride. Copper wire cuttings are used to produce cuprous ions. Chloride levels are reduced to around 30 ppm in electrolyte at 40°C. The removal of manganese using a precipitation process practiced in zinc electrowinning purification has been tested for implementation. The process involves reacting manganous ions in solution with permanganate ions. The reaction produces an insoluble manganese dioxide reaction product. The bench scale and pilot plant results from testing of these purification processes are reported.

Jan 1, 1999

By Dimitrios Fillippou

Magnesium hydroxide is used in a number of industrial applications, from the neutralisation of acid effluents to the production of pharmaceuticals. High-quality magnesium hydroxide powders can be produced by hydrating slow-reacting magnesia in dilute magnesium acetate solutions. The process of magnesia hydration shows many similarities with a typical hydrometallurgical leaching operation; however, its kinetics are crucial not only for process design and control, but also for the production of powders with a desirable particle morphology. This article shows the results of an experimental work whereby industrial heavily-burned magnesia powders were hydrated in 0.01 to 0.1 mol/L magnesium acetate solutions at temperatures ranging between 333 and 363 K. Examination of the magnesium hydroxide produced and the analysis of the kinetic data suggest that the hydration of heavily-burned magnesia in magnesium acetate solutions is a dissolution-precipitation process controlled by the dissolution of magnesia particles. The activation energy was estimated to be 60 kJ/mol, while the reaction order with respect to magnesium acetate concentration was found to be about one.

Jan 1, 1999

The Yanacocha district hosts the largest and most significant acid-sulphate, high-sulphidation deposits in Per· with total production, reserves and resources of over 27 million ounces of gold. Several other smaller high-sulphidation systems are also recognised in the Cajamarca region including La Zanja, Sipßn, Tantahuatay, and San Nicolas. These each have reserves/resources of between 640 000 and 800 000 ounces of gold. Gold deposits in the Yanacocha district are hosted in an extensive volcanic field. Flow domes have intruded precursor pyroclastic rocks and flows that are interpreted as part of an earlier intermediate multi-vent volcanic complex. The larger, contiguous Yanacocha Norte - Sur and Encajon gold deposits are spatially associated with late-stage diatreme breccias. At La Zanja extensive acid-sulphate alteration is associated with the margins of the small San Pedro caldera (6 +4.5 km), nested within the larger, less well-defined La Zanja caldera (19 +24 km). The inner caldera is resurgent with abundant magmatism expressed as several flow dome complexes located on the caldera rim, and shallow level intrusive stocks. Gold mineralisation is associated with a WNW-trending structural corridor that transects the southern margin of the San Pedro caldera. On the eastern side of the La Zanja caldera there are a series of younger andesitic eruptive centres, some associated with acid-sulphate alteration and gold mineralisation. The Sipßn deposit occurs in one such centre with structurally-controlled gold associated with a NE-trending silicified structure developed within a sequence of andesitic tuffs. In conclusion, although a number of high-sulphidation deposits are recognised in northern Per·, their settings and styles of mineralisation are all quite different. Smaller deposits generally have strong and obvious structural controls. In the larger Yanacocha deposits the structural controls are less obvious, and mineralisation is disseminated in porous or strongly fractured and brecciated silica. Erosional levels are probably a significant factor, with disseminated mineralisation at higher levels, and structurally-controlled mineralisation in more deeply eroded deposits.

Jan 1, 1999

By Dirk Bergmann

During the spray forming process, a continuous molten metal stream is atomized by impinging high speed inert gas jets. In the generated spray cone, the resulting metal droplets are rapidly cooled by the huge temperature difference to the surrounding gas phase and thereby partly solidified during flight. After a certain flight and residence time inside the spray cone, the droplets impinge onto the solid substrate and form the product (deposit) by compaction. Material properties of this preform strongly depend on several process parameters and especially on the thermal and kinetic state of the deposited droplets at the point of impingement. Smaller droplets may cool very fast due to their low mass and impinge onto the product in a completely solidified state as solid metal powder particles. Larger droplets with big mass contain a higher amount of thermal energy and impact during the state of phase change or still as completely liquid. It is obvious, that a certain amount of liquid content in the droplets is needed for forming a homogeneous deposit. Therefore, the thermal history of metal droplets during flight in the spray cone is of great importance for overall process modelling and control. Modelling the effects of the impinging droplet mass on the formation and heat balance of the deposit, the thermal conditions of the droplet stream need to be temporary and spatially averaged at different locations. Averaging may be achieved in different ways, giving alternative results. A first method is averaging over the droplets total enthalpy which consists of the thermal content and the remaining latent heat of fusion within the droplets. A second method may yield the average over the heat content and the solid fraction separately. Results of these two methods depend on the application and the kind of information which one wants to achieve and show some deviations, which will be discussed in terms of consolidation and energy conservation of the deposit.

Jan 1, 1999

By C. Flores

The direct cementation of copper from a loaded D2EHPA 20 % vol. in kerosene using zinc, zinc-lead alloy and iron metallic powders was studied. Copper was loaded into the organic solvent from an aqueous copper sulfate solution. Results indicated that copper is reduced spontaneously with relatively fast reaction rates. The effects of several operating parameters such as water content in the organic system, initial copper concentration, reductant surface area, oxygen and nitrogen atmosphere, intensity of the agitation and temperature on the galvanic stripping of copper were studied. For a better understanding of the electrochemical reactions involved in the galvanic stripping, the dissolution of metallic copper in the organic solvent was also studied. Copper did not dissolve unless a small amount of water was present in the organic system. The results and possible reaction mechanisms are discussed.

Jan 1, 1999

By Edgar Urbaez

Production scheduling is one of the most important factors affecting mine planning. A program -Mine Scheduler -that aids mining engineers with the setup of an optimum open pit production scheduling algorithm has been developed. A mathematical model for open pit scheduling that optimizes the Net Present Value of the cash flows was formulated. A simulated data is formulated as a Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) problem. What's Best by Lindo Systems is used as the MILP solver in Microsoft Excel. The implementation of the algorithm focuses on problem setup, allowing users to easily evaluate, simplify, and develop the model that best fits their production scheduling.

Jan 1, 1999

By H. L. Ludtke

Microlaminate composites were fabricated by electron-beam physical vapor deposition. The microlaminates consisted of five layers, each 2 to 4 pm thick, and were composed of either pure metal layers (Cu-Ag), or alternated between metal and intermetallic layers (Nb(Al)- Nb3Al). The microlaminates were heat treated in an Ar atmosphere for 2 to 12 hours, at temperatures of 600°C for the Cu-Ag and 1000°C to 1200°C for the Nb(Al)-NbsAl. Microlaminates were examined after deposition and after heat treatment by scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry. The effects of heat treatment on the morphological stability of these composites will be described.

Jan 1, 1999

Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd, a wholly owned Government of India Enterprise, was established in the year 1976 to develop mine and plant facilities to produce 7.5 Mtpa of high-grade iron ore concentrate at Kudremukh. The mine and plant facilities were commissioned in 1980. In view of high demand for iron oxide pellets in iron and steel industry worldwide and as a diversification activity, a pelletisation plant of 3.0 Mtpa capacity was commissioned in the year 1987 at Mangalore for production of high-quality blast furnace and direct reduction grade pellets for export. The pellet plant capacity has been increased to 3.5 Mtpa by technological improvement which included installation of roll press for quality and productivity improvement. In addition, the pellet capacity is being increased to 4 Mtpa by the addition of Shaft Pelletising Furnace plant.

Jan 1, 1999

By P. Stantke

In recent years the CollaMat process has been used successfully worldwide in a number of copper electrorefining tankhouses as an instrument for measuring the glue concentration and optimizing cathode quality. Owing to its measuring principles the CollaMat can be used not just for measuring the concentration of active glue but also the activity of other substances, which have an impact similar to glue on the copper deposition. In SX-EW plants guar is frequently used instead of glue as a levelling additive. In our laboratory the effect (activity) and the decomposition rate of guar in copper electrolyte was examined. As expected, the results show that guar has an effect similar to glue on the copper deposition. However, at the same temperature, a greater quantity of guar is required to achieve the same results. As with glue, the decomposition rate (due to hydrolysis) of guar is strongly dependent on the temperature. Therefore, in practice, its on-line monitoring is necessary to guarantee the same guar activity at any time.

Jan 1, 1999

By Rita Michael

"The Marmara Ironworks was not the earliest ironworks in Ontario, but it was distinguished from other early works in a number of ways. It was established on an ambitious scale as a self-sufficient and, for the time, sophisticated community. In effect it was an iron plantation on the scale and scope of those at Hopewell, Pennsylvania and Saugus, Massachusetts(1). It was, besides, the only one of the few early ironworks in Upper Canada which operated almost to the end of the nineteenth century, albeit in fits and starts, and which used magnetic ores rather than bog iron ores (limonite). Furthermore it is the only works which has produced archaeological interest over a number of years. The ironworks is on the east bank of the Crowe River near Highway 7, on Lots 7 and 8, Concession 4, Marmara Township, Hastings County, Ontario. It is the property of the Village of Marmara, and the extant remains encompass about 2. 5 acres of the original 2000 or so which made up the original grant. The mineral riches of the Canadian Shield had been known since the days of the Jesuit missionary-explorers. A consortium headed by Alexander Henry and the Duke of Gloucester planned to exploit the copper near Sault Ste. Marie during the last part of the eighteenth century, but nothing came of the venture(2). This attempt may have grown out of Lord Dorchester's suggestion that private enterprise be encouraged in order that the iron ore which ""abounds"" in Canada might be exploited(3). John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada was also anxious to see iron working develop. Simcoe was eager to encourage many enterprises, among which ""the development of iron mines""(4) - Governor Gore had been approached by John Mason for help with his ironworks in Norfolk County (5). Three Americans had applied for permission and support to erect an ironworks on the Gananoque River at the falls to become known as Furnace Falls. They were granted 1000 acres of land in fee simple to encourage their endeavor(6). Sir Peregrine Maitland, only a few months after taking up his duties as Lieutenant Governor in 1818, intended to visit the ""bed of iron ore on the Crow River"" (7) - Maitland was to provide a good deal of support, both moral and substantive, to Charles Hayes when he came to Canada in 1820."

Jan 1, 1999

Raw materials account for over 60 per cent of the cost of hot metal production in classical blast furnaces and the principal cost component is cost of coke. Dependence on coke is a traditional weakness of blast furnace ironmaking and while efforts have been made to evolve alternative ironmaking technologies which do not use coke, such as direct reduction, smelting reduction, and the more recent method of making iron carbide, blast furnaces continue to be the most efficient means of producing bulk hot metal even today. Coal injection, to the extent of 150 - 200 kg/t of hot metal, has been one of the major innovations made in blast furnaces to decrease cost and to reduce the dependence on coke. This has, however, given rise to more stringent coke property requirements (which often means more expensive coke) - a `tail spin' of Sorts!

Jan 1, 1999

By Mayfield P. L J, Honeyands T. A

BHP's two million tonne per annum nominal capacity Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) plant at Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Western Australia is based on FINMET¦¦ direct reduction technology. The FINMET¦¦ process produces direct reduced iron (DRI) by reacting fine iron ore with reformed natural gas in a series of fluid bed reactors and then hot briquetting this DRI into dense, high quality iron briquettes. The Port Hedland HBI project represents a major investment in the chemical processing of Australian minerals to higher value products prior to export to Asian markets. This paper describes the FINMET" process and technical aspects of the high-quality HBI product, and provides an update of the current status of the project.

Jan 1, 1999

By S. Hoerger

Newmont has a large integrated operation in Northern Nevada with numerous mines, stockpiles, and processing facilities. There are over ninety defined metallurgical ore types and over sixty defined gold recovery process options. To take better advantage of the available synergies, a complete Nevada wide mine plan and process model along with a mixed Integer and Linear Programming optimization tool has been developed and implemented. This system is maintained and operated by a Nevada Planning Group. Standard in-house planning software tools and methods have been implemented at all mine sites. While increasing the effectiveness of planning in Nevada, these changes have allowed a significant reduction in overall Mine Engineering staff.

Jan 1, 1999

By Luiz R. P. De Andrade Lima

This paper presents a mathematical model for the oxide copper ore heap leaching process. The data used in the model include physical-chemical, .geometrical and operational data, as: leachable metals ore contents, .flow rate and acid concentration, parameters of passivity, ore size distribution, the average residence time of the solution in the heap, height, irrigated area and weight of ore in the heap. In this model the heap is divided into horizontal and plane layers of constant area. The flow of the liquid in the heap is considered unidirectional and the solid-fluid reaction model is considered under diffusive control. The average residence time of the solution into the heap and the apparent effective diffusivity of the acid through the ore particles have .a significant influence on the rate of the copper extraction and its concentration in the pregnant solution; therefore these parameters are used in the model calibration. When this algorithm was applied to a laboratory test, the results showed that the model is adequate to predict the process performance.

Jan 1, 1999

The rush for alternate iron-units in the last few years spurred a true outbreak of new alternate iron units projects many of them incorporating new process in what can be classified as the.most fruitful and innovative technology outburst, in the steel industry, in decades In a recent paper we focused on what would be, in our opinion, the ultimate targets of the use of alternate iron-units by mini-mills: 1. to improve quality, 2. to reduce cost, 3. to increase plant productivity, and 4. to improve `supplyability'. With these objectives in mind liquid hot-metal, among all possible scrap substitutes, has been proven to be by far the best. This conclusion stems from many different authors who have reviewed the `value in use' of hot-metal against other alternate iron units and measured its impact on steel-shop productivity and cost (Figure 1).

Jan 1, 1999

By W. G. Davenport

A survey of world copper refining tankhouse .practices has been carried out. This paper compiles the results and examines changes in operating practices .since the similar 1987, 1991 and 1995 surveys. Continuing trends are the installation of ISA Process and Kidd Process stainless steel cathode technology, polymer concrete cells, anode preparation machines and automatic cranes. Instrumentation and automatic control are increasing, particularly for addition agent optimization; solvent extraction .and ion exchange techniques are being increasingly applied for electrolyte purification. The overall consequences of these changes have been 'improved cathode purities and enhanced tankhouse productivities.

Jan 1, 1999

By J. P. Ibáñez

The uptake of copper from extremely dilute aqueous solutions by alginate in the form of protonated dry alginate beads was investigated. Barium was used to cross link the alginate forming the beads. The effect of various experimental parameters such as pH and metal ions concentration on the uptake of copper were studied. The uptake was strongly dependent on the Cu-bearing solution pH up to a value of 4.5. A removal of 100% o was achieved when the initial concentration of copper was as low as 8.0 mg/L. The maximum uptake, i, e., the loading capacity, was found to be 167 mg of copper per g of beads. The mechanism governing the removal of copper was found to be ion exchange between protons of the alginate beads and cupric ions of the solution. For this ion exchange process a molar ratio, d[H+]/d[Cu2+], of 2.0 was determined. EPMA-EDX analysis of the Cu-loaded beads showed a uniform distribution of the ions throughout the structure of the alginate, regardless the solution pH. This may suggest that this sorbent material is a porous ion exchanger having high permeability and capacity. The uptake of copper and of the heavy metals cadmium and zinc by this sorbent is compared.

Jan 1, 1999

By Fritz J. Klingler

From site demolition, to design, to construction, Detroit's new Tiger Stadium project is required to be completed within a short 2 ½ years from award of the design-build contract. Such extreme schedule requirements together with somewhat difficult ground conditions at the site, resulted in several challenges in the design and construction of the deep foundation system for the stadium. During the geotechnical investigation, an intermittent water bearing sand layer was encountered overlying the hardpan at the site. As a result, some concern developed regarding the potential for collapse of caisson bells within this layer, as well as the potential for flooding of the caissons during drilling. Although sand and/or ground water was encountered within about half of the caissons, standard drilling and belling methods were used, and adverse conditions were controlled in almost all cases through expeditious drilling, inspection and concreting of the caissons. This paper will present a summary of the ground conditions, design and specification requirements, and construction methods used to successfully install the caissons for this project.

Jan 1, 1999

By Ken Mills

Dartbrook Mine (Australia) works the Wynn seam, which has a moderate propensity for spontaneous combustion. Prior to any mining a commitment was made to place a segregation barrier pillar between longwall blocks 4 and 5. This was to segregate goaves and improve management controls in the event of a spontaneous combustion event within previous longwall goaves. An alternative to the segregation barrier known as a Consolidated Barrier was developed; firstly as a concept, then computer modelled and finally field tested. It consists of a wider than normal chain pillar with concrete Mega-Seals placed in cut-throughs. Permeability and stress measurements were conducted in the surrounding coal of the seal. Remote monitoring took place as the longwall face approached and then passed by the seal. Results indicate that as the longwall retreats past the seal, horizontal stress increases. The additional stress leads to an increase in confinement and a subsequent reduction in permeability.

Jan 1, 1999

By Gary Brendel

India produces about 70 Mt/a (77million stpy) of coal ash (fly ash and bottom ash) from burning about 200 Mt/a (220 million stpy) of coal for electric power generation. The average ash content is 35%. In contrast, the United States produces about 70 Mt/a (77 million stpy) of coal ash from burning 800 Mt/a (880million stpy) of coal for power generation. Its average ash content is less than 10%. In 1998, GAI Consultants Inc.(GAI) embarked on a federally funded, multiyear project to assist the government of India in solving its growing coal-ash management problem.

Jan 1, 1999