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By Cameron Hams

Noranda's Process Reactor and Codelco's Teniente Converter are physically similar vessels, which leads to the commonly held misconception that the two processes are the .same. However, notable differences in chemistry, operating philosophy, and construction make them quite dissimilar. This paper compares and contrasts the Noranda Reactor and the Teniente Converter, and attempts to explain some of the apparent differences in behaviour and performance. The results of a worldwide survey of most operating Noranda Reactors and Teniente Converters, along with those processes that have ceased operation or are planning to be started-up in the future, are presented.

Jan 1, 1999

By John M. Rogers

Risk management has rapidly developed to become an integrated, holistic approach that now encompasses the main risk elements such as product quality control, occupational health and safety, security, environmental liability, social issues and related management information systems. Given the obvious economic benefits, a seamless blend of risk management components has become essential to allowing organisations to sustain a competitive advantage, and is also looked upon as an important attribute in organisational growth. Juxtaposed with this management philosophy is the global trend towards outsourcing, which has seen the emergence of independent, and specialist risk management organisations. The New Millennium will undoubtedly see a shift away from "in-house" risk management practices, and consequently, the selection of a suitable risk management partner - a major vehicle for improving shareholder value - will become an important strategic management decision.

Jan 1, 1999

One of the major objectives of cost analysis is to enable the manager to predict the financial outcomes of decisions. To accomplish this, the future costs and benefits of alternative courses of action must be determined. If care- fully used, information about past financial performance can be helpful in this analysis despite the fact that, by definition, financial reporting information is historical. In many cases, both revenues and costs need to be estimated for decision- making. For the production manager, additional revenue is a result of increased throughput or recovery of valuable material from the stream of mined material. A reduction in operating cost, although similar to a revenue increase in its financial impact, is estimated using slightly different techniques. Generally, the estimation of cost is more difficult than the estimation of revenue. Most cost estimates have two components: an estimate of fixed costs and an estimate of variable costs. As discussed in chapter 5, the total cost of an activity during a specified period can be expressed as: Total cost = (Variable cost per unit of activity) x (Units of activity) + Fixed cost or TC = VX+F

Jan 1, 1999

By M. Kane, O&apos

Operators and designers require a comprehensive model to predict performance of heap leach piles and provide input of reliable and defensible data for economic modelling. A conceptual, theoretical, or numerical predictive model addressing the required metallurgical, geological, biological, and operational considerations should be developed within the framework of the hydraulic performance of the heap leach pile. It is generally agreed that segregation, compaction, and consolidation are physical aspects which significantly affect recovery and in general hydraulic performance. Hydraulic performance of heap leach piles can be described through the application of unsaturated zone hydrology. Unsaturated zone hydrology describes the flow and storage of moisture and oxygen in a porous medium under conditions where the pore water pressure is less than atmospheric. The porous material is "unsaturated" if an air phase, in addition to the water phase and solid material phase, is present. These conditions describe the operation of a copper heap leach pile. This paper will focus on developing an understanding of hydraulic performance in segregated heap leach material and demonstrating that unsaturated zone hydrology can be used as the framework to improve understanding and prediction of heap leach performance.

Jan 1, 1999

The CERAMEC pressure filter is used for the filtration of fine materials whose cake moisture cannot be achieved with vacuum. Development work has been carried out to achieve a well-controlled cake forming and cleaning of the filter media as well as an efficient solids discharge system. Operating costs are low due to low energy input and negligible consumption of pressurized air.

Jan 1, 1999

By Harrison Cooper, Stephen Pack

"Data from samples taken during rotary air blast and reverse circulation drilling are crucial to properly assessing economics of mineral deposits in the case of exploratory work, and are equally critical in accurately delineating ore and waste in execution of mine operation plans. Past studies of sampling procedures, comparing results of conventional splitting to more precise extraction of representative samples, illustrate the significant degree of error frequently encountered. Economic impact of error in mine blast hole sampling work can be shown to result in theoretical losses valued at millions of dollars annually in operating large scale mining projects. Results of past drill sampling studies are reviewed.Drill sampling technique can be improved by collecting coarse and fine particles together and extracting samples for assay from the complete flow of rock and dust simultaneously. This can be accomplished with a collection unit attached to the drill stem through which all except a small proportion of extreme fines are retained. The bulk mass can be static sampled as flow takes place through the collector when size reduction is not required. Alternately, collected mass with fines and coarse intermingled can be processed for increased accuracy through size reduction to obtain proportional samples."

Jan 1, 1999

By D. R. East

Recent experiences within certain sectors of the international mining industry suggest an underestimation of the environmental risk associated with the design of mine waste management facilities. These experiences show that the technical and managerial challenge of responsible mine waste management is not always fully appreciated. Unfortunately, the image of the mining industry's environmental performance is negatively impacted by a relatively few number of failures. This negative view overrides the many positive contributions made by the majority of mining companies. The fact that these failures continue to occur to this day in both developed and developing countries is indeed remarkable, and indicates a degree of risk-taking approaching unacceptable levels. The design requirements for tailing storage facilities are, in many cases, more demanding than those of conventional water dams, because seepage of fluids which contain dissolved metals may pose a greater threat than the mere loss of water.

Jan 1, 1999

By J. M. Khodadadi

"A computational study of the effect of thermocapillary convection on melting of a droplet under the influence of an incident uniform heat flux is presented. The computations are based on an iterative, finite-volume numerical procedure using primitive dependent variables, whereby the time-dependent continuity, momentum and energy equations in the spherical coordinate system are solved. During the early periods of the melting process, conduction mode of heat transfer is dominant. As the thermocapillary convection is strengthened due to the growth of the melt zone, melting on the side of the droplet is observed to be much faster in comparison to the conduction-only case. Due to the skewedness of the temperature field, a new recirculating vortex is created which promotes melting within the droplet. The effects of the change in the sign of the surface-tension temperature coefficient on the melting pattern are also investigated.1. IntroductionMelting and solidification of materials are important processes which are encountered in nature and numerous industrial applications. Due to the recent upsurge of interest in such processes as spray casting, space radiators, rapid solidification, purification of materials, containerless processing, etc., there is a need to analyze the transport phenomena of melting and solidification in spherical configurations. Specifically, the effect of thermocapillary convection on the melting of metallic droplets has not been addressed at all. Only a few authors have studied the transport phenomena without phase change in spherical droplets. Oliver and DeWitt [l] worked out a series solution for the thermal and surface-tension-driven flow fields for a droplet experiencing an irradiant energy flux in the microgravity environment. Kudo et al. [2] solved the coupled momentum and energy equations numerically for the same problem without dropping the convective terms. Due to the nonexistence of any previous work on transport phenomena during the thermocapillary-assisted melting of metal droplets, this study was initiated to elucidate the features of the phenomenon."

Jan 1, 1999

By J. H. Schubert

Mintek has developed a level-control system, FloatStar, for use in flotation circuits. Instead of controlling levels separately in each unit, the controller monitors levels throughout the circuit. It can thus take account of the global effects of any control actions. A collaborative project between Mintek and Karee Platinum Mine has begun, looking at aspects of flotation control. Karee plant was chosen as the site for this work because of its good existing control infrastructure. As a first stage of the joint project FloatStar was installed. Analysis during installation and running of the FloatStar has illustrated how circuit design and measurement technology can affect process control. Severe interactions have been observed in the levels of adjacent banks. The effect of FloatStar on flotation performance was tested and an improvement in level control was observed. Similarly, a faster settling of the plant after start-ups was observed. Both the improved level control and faster start-ups lead to higher platinum recovery.

Jan 1, 1999

By S. M. Alvarez

The Moon Creek Reclamation Project provides a case study in the development of creative cleanup solutions for an abandoned lead and zinc mine and mill site located in northern Idaho. Innovative design features include construction of a 88,000 cubic yard combined waste containment facility on soft in-situ tailings, water-balance cap, limestone gravel drains, a geocell mattress for stability, and a below-grade scour protection berm. The stream, including a wetlands buffer, will be relocated within an existing road alignment and rehabilitated to provide trout habitat. These elements allow for the integration of reclamation and stabilization measures into an effective site design.

Jan 1, 1999

By B. Abedian, L. M. Racz, S. R. Berry, R. W. Hyers

"The presented work represents an effort to improve understanding and prediction of turbulent flow inside electromagnetically-levitated droplets. We show that the flow field in a test case, a nickel droplet levitated under microgravity conditions, is a low Reynolds number turbulent flow, i.e. in the transitional regime between laminar and turbulent. Past research efforts have used laminar, enhanced viscosity, and k - E turbulence models to describe these flows. In our study, we compare the RNG algorithm to laminar and k - E turbulence model results. We show that accurate description of the turbulent eddy viscosity µr is critical in order to obtain realistic velocity fields, and that µr cannot be uniform in levitated droplets. In the RNG method there are no characteristic length or time scales associated with the flow, thus allowing such anisotropic features to be captured. We perform calculations and analyses for two cases (1) a small, non-deforming, spherical nickel droplet and (2) a deforming, oscillating droplet. In addition to flow field calculations, we compare numerically-obtained surface tension and viscosity values to those obtained experimentally by the oscillating drop technique.IntroductionElectromagnetic levitation (EML) is a containerless processing technique for conductive materials. Its advantages are the avoidance of contamination or chemical reaction at container walls and the ability to perform long-term experiments in a metastable state. Because of its current limitation to small sample sizes, its primary use is in the laboratory. One application of interest is the measurement of thermophysical properties of undercooled liquid metals [1, 2, 3, 4]. In EML, a sample weighing approximately 1 gram is positioned inside an electromagnetic field generated by alternating currents flowing through an axisymmetric water-cooled copper coil. The coil must be designed appropriately so that thesample levitates in a stable manner.Traditionally, mathematical modeling has been performed in tandem with both earth-and spacebound electromagnetic levitation experiments, in order to determine the effect of the magnetic field on material and flow characteristics [5, 6, 7, 8]. These calculations are important because they allow design, planning, and correct interpretation of experiments. In addition, the calculations are of fundamental scientific interest, as they can be applied to other electromagnetic materials processing applications [9]."

Jan 1, 1999

By C M. Sennitt, M J. Spadafora

Systematic field evaluation of known gold and clay occurrences in South Korea has led to the recognition and discovery of both high and low sulphidation gold-silver epithermal systems. These are associated with Cretaceous acid-intermediate volcanic centres in the southern parts of the peninsula. The high sulphidation deposits such as Seongsan and Kohung are characterised by pervasive silica-alunite-dickite-pyrophyllite alteration with anomalous arsenic geochemical signatures. Gold mineralisation is associated with fine grained marcasite and pyrite. A low sulphidation quartz vein system observed at the Tongyoung mine comprises multistage colloform banded quartz-carbonate assemblages, with minor manganese and base metals. Gold and silver occur as electrum and tellurium minerals. Some deposits such as Gasado and Dogcheon display both high and low sulphidation alteration assemblages. Early pervasive silica-alunite-pyrophyllite alteration caps formed by acid fluids with a significant magmatic component, occur above cryptocrystalline colloform banded vein systems. The quartz vein stage hosts the precious metal mineralisation and appears to have been deposited by later neutral fluids generated in part through mixing with meteroric water.

Jan 1, 1999

By M. A. Cocquerel

External process energy requirements and air pollution control regulations formulated to limit particulate and SO2 emissions are impacting on smelting and converting technologies and the corresponding process and secondary gas handling systems. This paper presents an overview of the different technical solutions used for cooling and dedusting the process gases in the different pyrometallurgical copper concentrate stages, including: drying, smelting, converting, slag cleaning and fire refining. The main principles of the process gas handling systems are presented &d a qualitative technical and economical comparison is discussed in relation to process changes, energy recovery and marketing or disposing of the various sulfur fixation by-products. Finally, a brief review of the methods for fixing sulfur contained in the process and secondary gases is presented.

Jan 1, 1999

By T. T. Chen

Secondary copper anodes are generally rich in Sn, Pb, Ni and Sb, but are notably deficient in Se, Te and Ag. In the secondary copper anodes, most of the Ni, virtually all of the Ag, slightly more than one-fifth of the Pb, about one-third of the As and Sb, and approximately one-tenth of the Sn are in solid solution in the copper. The remaining impurity contents occur as 1-5 µm grain-boundary inclusions in the anodes, and these are mainly Cu2O, SnO2, Cu-Pb-As-Sb-Bi oxide, Pb-Sb oxide, Sn-Ni-Zn oxide, Cu-Sn-Ni oxide, Cu-Sb-Ni oxide (Kupferglimmer) and trace Cu2(Se,Te). Barium sulphate, which originates from the mold wash used in casting, is also present in the anodes. During electrorefining, the BaSO4, SnO2, Pb-Sb oxide, Sn-Ni-Zn oxide, Cu-Sn-Ni oxide and Cu- Sb-Ni oxide inclusions are liberated and accumulate in the slimes layer. Solid solution Ni dissolves and the Ni accumulates in the electrolyte. Solid solution Sn and Pb dissolve, but partly reprecipitate as Sn arsenate and PbSO4, respectively. Solid solution Ag dissolves but rapidly reacts to form Ag2(Se,Te), Ag powder, Ag-bearing Cu2O, (Cu,Ag)SO4 or a complex oxidate phase. Partial dissolution of the Cu-Pb-As-Sb-Bi oxide particles takes place; the Pb component is converted to PbSO4, whereas Cu, As, Sb and Bi dissolve. The reacted particles retain the morphology of the original Cu-Pb-As- Sb-Bi oxide phase. Some of the solubilized As, Sb and Bi remains in solution, but much reprecipitates as SbAsO4, As-Sb-Bi oxide, and as a poorly defined oxidate phase which consists mostly of Cu-Ag-Pb arsenate-sulphate. The high Sn contents of secondary copper anodes do not seem to affect the behaviour of the anodes during electrorefining.

Jan 1, 1999

Council for 1999/2000 President J.R. Dixon President Elect M.H. Rogers Vice Presidents Senior Dr L.A. Cramer Junior A.A.B. Douglas Immediate Past President R.P. Mohring Honorary Treasurer J.A. Cruise Members of Council B.C. Alberts Dr N.A. Barcza N.J. Barkhuysen R.D. Beck M.J.P. Bierman Prof. A.N. Brown D. Cockcroft Dr M.B. Cortie Dr L.A. Cramer J.A. Cruise E.G. de Villiers J.R. Dixon A.A.B. Douglas F.M.G. Egerton J.P.W. Fisher C.E. Fivaz K.J.R. Ford Prof. G.A. Fourie R. Graham Dr R.G. Gürtunca Dr R.V.R. Handfield-Jones* M.C. Harris J.P. Hoffman H.E. James P.J. Knottenbelt R.P. Mohring H.G. Mosenthal G.Y. Nisbet N.M. O'Brien R.G.B. Pickering Prof. R.P. Plewman S.J. Ramokgopa Prof. R.E. Robinson M.H. Rogers D.A.J. Ross-Watt Prof. R.F. Sandenbergh Dr H. Scott-Russell C.B. Sheppard D.A.A. Smith Dr T.R. Stacey Dr O.K.H. Steffen D.J. van Niekerk J.C. Viljoen J.N. Wallington

Jan 1, 1999

By David T. Hobbs

Large quantities of highly alkaline, radioactive, liquid wastes are stored in underground tanks throughout the Department of Energy complex. These wastes will be pretreated to separate radionuclides and the remaining decontaminated liquid wastes incorporated into solid waste forms for permanent disposal. Significant savings in disposal costs could result by recovering .the sodium as sodium hydroxide for reuse or disposal as nonradioactive waste. Recent testing demonstrated an electrochemical separation process for the recovery of sodium hydroxide from alkaline waste solutions; The separation process uses ion-selective membranes to separate sodium from the bulk of the waste constituents under an applied electrical field. The sodium is recovered as a 10-15 wt % solution of sodium hydroxide. Results of bench-sc3Ie and pilot-scale tests with simulated and radioactive waste solutions are presented.

Jan 1, 1999

By W. S. Fyfe, G. Southam, T. J. Beveridge

Bacterial populations play an active role in mineral weathering in subsurface and near-surface environments e.g., supergene enrichment of Cu at Morenci, AZ. An invitro bacterial biofilm model was used to examine the interaction between Sporosarcina ureae and ionic gold(which is toxic) or amino acid-gold complexes in gold mobility. The immobilization of ionic gold was between80-90% for 1 week but as the available, cellular reactive sites became saturated immobilization decreased to 14%within 2 weeks. In the asparagine-gold system, gold immobilization occurred at a high rate (80-90%)throughout the experiment with limited toxicity towards Sporosarcina ureae.

Jan 1, 1999

By Byung-Su Kim

The recovery of elemental sulfur from sulfur dioxide has important implications for coal- burning power plants and nonferrous metal smelters. The thermodynamic analyses showed calcium sulfide to be suitable for recovering elemental sulfur from sulfur dioxide. At the temperatures of 1023 to 1153 K under the sulfur dioxide partial pressures of 5.0 - 60.1 kPa, elemental sulfur from sulfur dioxide was recovered by its reaction with calcium sulfide. The kinetics of this reaction were measured at the same conditions using a thermogravimetric analysis technique. This reaction scheme would be attractive if the coproduct calcium sulfate can be reduced to regenerate calcium sulfide. This is the topic of another paper. At 1073 K under the sulfur dioxide partial pressure of 25.8 kPa, 48 % of the original calcium sulfide was converted to calcium sulfate in an hour. Under the same conditions, 55 % of the regenerated calcium sulfide were converted to calcium sulfate in an hour even after third regeneration.

Jan 1, 1999

By Douglas B. Silver

The key to unlocking value is to find opportunity where others have missed it. How does a company find value in a thoroughly explored asset? This article explores the approach taken by one company and the results it achieved from working this problem. The town of Shafter is located on a small bend in the road in west Texas' Big Bend Country. Its past emulates the glory days of so many other mining camps. A discovery was made, fortunes were built and World War II shut down the operation. The Shafter deposit continues to be one of the larg¬est undeveloped primary silver deposits in North America. Gold Fields Mining Co. recognized the area's potential in 1977 and embarked on studies to reopen and develop the district. Gold Fields spent $16 million on the Shafter project. It drilled more than 86,240 m (282,940 ft) in 475 holes, sunk two shafts and developed 1,550 m (5,100 ft) of underground workings. Today, the mothballed 447-kW (600-hp), single-drum Nordberg hoist and permanent production-type, single-compartment headframe continue to crown the shaft. Other buildings onsite house compressors, mine pumps, spare parts, drill core and other supplies. All these items look as though they arrived yesterday. By 1982, Gold Fields had completed an extensive feasibility study with ambitions to. construct a 1.36-kt/d (1,500-stpd) agitated cyanidation mill and base metal gravity circuit. Reserves at Shafter stand at 4.23 Mt (4.67 million st) grading 193.5 g/t (5.65 oz/st) silver. Gold Fields planned to produce 71.5 t/a (2.3 million oz/year) of silver at a head grade of 196.2 g/t (5.73 oz/st) silver with a 77% recovery rate. Cash costs were projected to be $5.54/oz with an anticipated initial and total capital cost of $46.2 million and $51.3 million (1984 dollars), respectively. The study assumed a silver price of $8.60/oz that has not been seen since the Hunt brothers quit buying silver. When silver prices declined, Gold Fields put the property up for sale.

Jan 1, 1999

By Roberto Parra

The selective reduction smelting of Cu2O in Cu2O-FeOx-SiO2 melts has been studied at laboratory level, using as a feed a dead roasted calcine from a copper concentrate. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the kinetic and mechanisms of the indirect reduction with CO and the direct reduction with graphite from 1260°C to 1350°C. The reduction rate by CO was found to be 10-2 to 10-1 mole Cu2O m-2s-1. The graphite reduction macrokinetics for FeO and. Fe2O3 containing melts, was found to be a first order reaction with respect to the Cu2O concentration, with a kinetic constant of 104 to 10-3 s-1. The reduction rate was not sensitive to temperature nor to stirring, in the range studied. The measured reduction rate is almost one order of magnitude larger than the observed rate for the direct reduction of FeO.

Jan 1, 1999