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By Robert R. Beebe

On the night of August 1'9-20, 1995, seepage was seen at the toe of the Omai tailings dam in Guyana. The mill was immediately shut down, and within two hours the flow, then mostly water, was diverted into an inactive mining pit nearby. At about the same time a second more serious break occurred at a point where water and solids could flow directly into the Omai River. By the time Ii coffer dam could be completed in the early morning of August 24, some 4.2 million cubic meters of tailings water and solids had escaped from the dam, of which nearly2.9 million cubic meters had reached the Omai River. This paper outlines some initial Process considerations and operational decisions which might have contributed to the dam's failure, describes how the Government of Guyana and the operator, Omai Gold Mines Limited, cooperated in dealing with immediate problems and shows how the Government set about investigating the accident. In particular, the paper details the work of a Process Review Committee comprising Guyanese and foreign experts convened to assess the gold processing and effluent management systems at Omai, and to recommend actions where appropriate.

Jan 1, 1998

By Susanne Pignolet-Brandom

QEM*SEM is an automated scanning electron microscope/computer system that characterizes samples with regard to mineral modal abundances, mineral grain and particle sizes, mineral associations, and particle surface areas. Additional information, based on the classification of particles according to the area percentage of a mineral of interest, can be obtained for samples of particulates. QEM*SEM is capable of analyzing a wide variety of materials although it was originally developed for applications to the minerals industry.

Jan 1, 1988

Numerical simulation of the fluid flow and heat transfer has been carried out for a waste-heat boiler in an Outokumpu type copper flash smelter. In this boiler, SO2-containing off-gas flows into the waste-heat boiler radiation section at about 1350°C. A fraction of cooler off-gas from the electrostatic precipitator at about 200°C was recirculated into the radiation section, and a small amount of ambient air was leaked into the boiler from the bottom. The computational results show that the flow is strongly recirculating and distinctly three dimensional in most of the boiler, particularly in the radiation section. The hot off-gas cooled down rapidly after entering the radiation section due to radiation. The predicted flow pattern and temperature distribution were in a good agreement with laboratory models and industrial measurements.

Jan 1, 1995

By D. Y. Wang, G. Y. Sha, X. L. Shen, D. R. Gu

The study of the volatilization kinetics of zinc and lead in pellets made of zinc-leadbearing dust mixed with coal powder, in a nitrogen atmosphere and at a temperature range between 1100 °C and 1300 °C, shows that the reduction temperature has a significant effect on the volatilization rates of zinc and lead, and that both the particle size of the coal powder and the extra carbon content has no effect on the volatilization rates. The obtained activation energies for the volatilization of zinc and lead are 79.42kJ/mol and 88.74kJ/mol respectively. The volatilization rate of zinc is controlled by the reaction between the zinc oxide and carbon monoxide while that of lead is controlled by the lead evaporation reaction, and the diffusion of gaseous lead through the gas boundary layer covering the surface of the reduced liquid lead.

Jan 1, 2000

By Ronald L. Pariani

To date, significant advances have been made regarding the development and commercial implementation of full deposit stripping in the copper industry such as practiced at Copper Refineries, LTD in Townsville, Australia. The paper describes the history and current practice of Electrowinning (EW) plants which may be coupled with solvent extraction. The modular nature and degree of automation are described in relation to the various sizes of operations. Reference is made to the expansion capability of commercial equipment plus associated economics of the mechanical processes for producing full cathode deposits. It is recognized that the technology described may be adaptable to other nonferrous refining areas where feasible. The paper highlights the state of the art in mechanized stripping equipment as applied to current and planned SX-EW plants.

Jan 1, 1987

By Henk Dijkman

Existing metallurgical operations can be optimized by implementing engineered bioreactor systems in the process configuration. For instance, metals can be recovered safely and economically from process and waste streams using biogenic sulfide. This paper focuses upon possible applications of high rate biotechnology in metallurgy and mining. Metal recovery from liquid streams (process bleed streams, leach water, waste streams), integrated removal of (fugitive) SO2, treatment of acid blowdown and other options will be described. Practical examples are given. A large-scale application of biotechnology at Pasminco's Budel Zink refinery is described. Here, acid plant blowdown is treated together with electrolyte magnesium bleed. Concentrated zinc sulfide (10 tpd) is produced biologically, eliminating the production of gypsum and closing the refinery sulfur cycle. Recovery of metals from solution at Kovehute Pribram in the Czech Republic is the second practical example. In this case, H2S is produced on-site for metal removal from an alkaline slag dump leachate. At the Caribou mine in New Brunswick, Canada, acid mine drainage is treated with biogenic sulfide. This plant is situated upstream of a lime neutralization plant. As a result, reusable ZnS is produced, the volume of the sludge (gypsum and hydroxides) from the lime plant is reduced by 50%, the sludge is free of heavy metals and the final effluent concentration of heavy metals is in the ppb range. In the second phase of this project, metals will be recovered from stored tailings, resulting in significant revenues.

Jan 1, 2002

By Padmavathy Mahadevan, Samir Chefai, Eduard Guerra

"Electrocoagulation is a technique for treating wastewater streams from metallurgical plants whereby electrodes are corroded to generate gases (most notably oxygen at the anode and hydrogen at the cathode) and solid particulates which acts as substrates for coprecipitation of impurities. The performance of electrocoagulation reactors, in terms of their efficiency for removing a particular impurity, is highly dependent on several factors, most notably: the nature of the electrodes, the spacing between electrodes, the current density, the height of the electrodes, the solution flow rate, and application of periodic current reversal. Because these variables have complex interactions, in order to ensure reliable scale-up of laboratory results, experiments should be conducted under conditions that closely match those that would be employed at an industrial scale. To that end, this article describes the design and commissioning of a versatile laboratory scale electrocoagulation reactor that allows for the control of all the aforementioned variables along with the ability to measure the instantaneous spatial distribution of current within the reactor.IntroductionArsenic is often removed from metallurgical waste streams in stirred tank reactors by coprecipitating it with ferric ions as an arsenical ferrihydrite [ 1]. Electrocoagulation is an electrolytic technology that can accomplish the same task, but has not yet been widely adopted to treat metallurgical waste streams [2]. The electrocoagulation process involves the use of an external DC power supply to drive the dissolution of a relatively non-toxic metal into the wastewater stream, usually either iron or aluminum, which then largely precipitates as oxyhydroxide phases that adsorb undesired impurities [l]. At the anode, the metal is dissolved and oxygen is often evolved, lowering the local pH and enhancing metal ion solubility."

Jan 1, 2012

By Laurence G. Dyer, David G. Dixon, John Rumball, Maziar Eghbalnia, Edouard Asselin

"Linear scan voltarnmetry was used to determine the reactions that occur during the cyanidation of petzite (Ag3AuTe2). Gold oxidation in petzite requires more oxidising conditions than are required for pure gold, it also does not achieve the same current (related to reaction rate). Tellurium oxidation occurs at a similar potential in water and cyanide, but as a component of petzite is impeded somewhat in water, likely due to the stability of the precious metals. Pre-treatment of petzite to oxidise tellurium in the absence of cyanide prior to gold recovery appears to be at least moderately successful.IntroductionWhile gold occurs most prevalently in its native form, many other gold bearing phases appear throughout natural systems [I]. Tellurides are a common group of such minerals, many of which also contain silver, often existing in association with native gold deposits. The six major gold-bearing tellurides are calaverite (AuTe2), sylvanite [(Au, Ag)2Te4], montbrayite [(AuSb)zTe3], krennerite [(Au1-x, Ag,)Te2], petzite (Ag3AuTe2) and muthmannite (AuAgTe2) [2]. While several other phases exist they are much more complex (i .e. buckhornite), which dilutes and confuses the influence of each specific component. Studies of gold tellurides have predominantly focussed on calaverite as it is the simplest and most common phase, however petzite, commonly found in Australia and North America, is the focus of this investigation.Gold processing via cyanidation has been operated for more than a century and is a highly effective hydrometallurgical treatment of native gold deposits. However, some gold alloys such as tellurides have proven to be somewhat less responsive under the same conditions. Several groups have shown that gold/silver tellurides are amenable to cyanidation, but are significantly more refractory than native gold [3]. Pre-oxidation steps have been tested to remove constituents that would consume cyanide such as sulfides. Such species are also linked to the precipitation of oxidised telluriwn, forming a passive layer, further inhibiting gold recovery [2]. It is uncertain to the definite reasons underpinning the refractory nature of precious metal tellurides in conventional cyanidation."

Jan 1, 2012

By Tian Sugui

By means of the measurement of the enduring property and microstructure observation, an investigation has been made into the influences of the element Re and TCP phase on the enduring property of the single crystal nickel base superalloys. Results show that the needle-like TCP phase is precipitated along the <110> orientation on {111} planes in Re-containing/free superalloys during the long term aging, the TCP phase is identified as µ phase, and the precipitated µ phase in 4.5%Re alloy is gradually spheroidized during aging. Thereinto, the needle-like µ phase may obviously decrease the enduring lifetimes of the alloys due to the consumption of the refractory elements and the effect of the stress concentration. But the stress concentration is not easily generated in the regions near the spherical-like µ phase, which is a main reason of reducing the enduring lifetime of 4.5%Re alloy to a small extent.

Jan 1, 2010

By J. A. Holmes

Due to varying and complex mineralogy, the flotation tailings from the Chingola Concentrator have, for some years, contained upwards of 0.4% acid soluble copper. In 1968, an investigation was initiated, to determine a method for recovering this acid soluble copper. This initial investigation concluded with a recommendation to install a leach-solvent extraction-electrowinning plant at Chingola, to treat up to 900 000 tonnes of material per month, for an additional copper production of some 4 500 tonnes per month. The process consists basically of six stages :- Materials reclamation handling and preparation, acid leaching in air agitated pachucas, solid-liquid separation by countercurrent washing in thickeners, solution concentration and purification by solvent extraction, copper recovery by electrowinning, and residue neutralisation and disposal. This paper describes the development of the main parameters for design of each of the six sections, and gives details of the final plant design. Problems encountered in commissioning and initial operations are commented on, particularly insofar as they indicated any errors or misjudgements in the design. The choice of materials of construction is commented on in some detail.

Jan 1, 1976

By J. C. Yannopoulos

The quest for a continuous copper smelting and converting process, which has been going on for a long time, has not as yet reached its objective. The most recent efforts for the development of a continuous copper?making process started about two decades ago. Among the contending proposed processes, four have been piloted and three of them are currently in operation: the WORCRA process., the NORANDA process, the MITSUBISHI process, the OUTOKUMPU process. The WORCRA process, after some long pilot plant tests, failed to develop as an industrial process: The NORANDA process, as currently operating, is a smelting process and not a continuous copper?making reactor as initially conceived. The MITSUBISHI, although the only continuous process, has not been widely accepted. The OUTOKUMPU process can be applied only to a low iron concentrate feed and co?produces blister and high in copper slag. The thermodynamics of these "continuous" systems and the practical problems of their industrial application are reviewed and discussed. The achievement of efficient and inexpensive environmental control should&apos; be the primary objective of any new process development. A review of the environmental problems of the copper industry indicates that the quest for a continuous smelting and converting furnace should be intensified.

Jan 1, 1983

By Musa Karakus

Reflected light microscopic (RLM) examination of dust particles from lead and copper smelters can effectively characterize their mineralogy, texture, and origin. Scanning electron microscopic-energy dispersive spectroscopic (SEM-EDS) analysis provides confirmation of the optical identifications and chemical data on the phases. Studied lead smelter dust samples were from the: I) blast furnace, 2) sinter plant scrubber, 3) sinter plant crusher, 4) dross furnace, and 5) refinery. Phases identified included galena fragments, melted PbS, metallic Pb and Cu, Cu-Ni, Cu-Zn, Zn-Ag, Zn-Cu-Ag, Ni-Cu-Sb, and Ni-Cu-Zn-Ag metal alloys, Ni-sulfide, Cu-sulfide, and Cu-Pb-sulfide dross .phases; slag and sinter particles, coke fragments, unreacted original feed phases: pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, siegenite, bravoite; and oxidized particles: iss, bornite, chalcocite, covellite, magnetite, hematite, and goethite. Dust from a secondary copper refinery were found by RLM and SEM to consist of tenorite, cuprite, cassiterite, two silicate phases. Magnetite, hematite, Fe-Al-Cr-Mg spinel, periclase, forsterite, and wollastonite were derived from the furnace linings during initial cleaning.

Jan 1, 1992

By W. K. Rankin

Achieving continued economic growth with social equity within the natural limits of the Earth&apos;s eco-systems is the major issue facing the world today. The material and energy needs of the world cannot be met with the current ways of addressing this issue. The need for metals, an important class of materials, will continue into the future because their unique properties make substitution by other materials impossible in many applications and this need will continue to be met from primary metal production and recycling. However, the recycling rate will increase and the usage pattern of metals will change to reflect the environmental impact of their production and use. Pyrometallurgy has an important role in meeting the metal needs of the future since some metals can only be produced pyrometallurgically; the energy required to produce some metals pyrometallurgically is significantly less than by other methods; most metals are most efficiently recycled pyrometallurgically; and the release of harmful and toxic elements into the biosphere can sometimes best be controlled through pyrometallurgical processing. The development of strategies for pyrometallurgical processing for the future lies in the recognition that sustainable development calls for large step improvements in value delivered per unit of environmental impact over the entire supply chain. Pyrometallurgists can respond to this challenge by contributing to reducing the environmental impact of meeting metal needs using three broad strategies: "end-of-pipe" approaches to convert emissions into benign materials for storage or disposal; flowsheet redesign to limit or eliminate emission production; and improved recycling technologies. A number of examples are discussed to illustrate how the sustainability driver is already influencing the technological development of pyrometallurgical processes, and how these will develop further as the sustainability driver strengthens.

Jan 1, 2003

By M. E. Huckman

In this paper, we review the equations needed to construct an ion exchange column model. These models contain three major components: 1) a differential material balance around the colunm, 2) a differential material balance around an ion exchange particle, and 3) a constitutive equation for diffusive flux We then examine the ability of a fairly simple mathematical model to predict ion exchange column experimental data. This model contains the traditional absorption theory equations and is used to predict the behavior of a column filled with a hydrous crystalline silico-titanate and which is removing trace amounts of Cs+ from a high pH, complex electrolyte solution. Finally, we propose replacing Fick&apos;s law with the Nernst-Planck equation as the constitutive equation for diffusive flux We use a Nernst-Planck type model to predict batch experimental data, then evaluate it by comparing it&apos;s ability to predict experimental data to that of a more traditional Fick&apos;s law type model? The data from this comparison suggests that the Nemst-Planck type model yields better results.

Jan 1, 1996

By Varadajan Seshadri

The increase in production of continuous casting machines requires long ladle sequences without interruption. Very often the production schedule has to accommodate a variety of steel grades. In such cases downgrading may be inevitable. Models must be made available to study the alternatives that would make possible mixing of steels in the tundish but minimizing the losses due to downgrading the slabs. Physical modeling was used to evaluate the influence of variables such as internal geometry of the tundish, presence of turbulence inhibitors, depth of ladle long nozzle, weight of steel in the tundish, steel throughput upon the tundish transition curve. Expressions for minimum residence time and transition period have been determined. Mixing-transition is allowed to continue inside the liquid pool in the mold and the final solute distribution in a given cross section is captured by a solidification model. The result is a map of the transition in the final product.

Jan 1, 2006

By John R. FitzPatrick

The separation and purification of uranium from either nitric acid or hydrochloric acid media tan be accomplished by using either solvent extraction or ion-exchange. Over the past two years at Los Alamos, emerging programs are focused on recapturing the expertise required to do limited, small-quantity processing of enriched uranium. During this period of time, we have been investigating ion-exchange as a method for extraction/purification of uranium from acidic media. In addition, waste stream polishing is associated with this effort in order to achieve more complete removal of the uranium prior to recycle of the acid. Extraction chromatography has been demonstrated&apos; to further polish the uranium from both nitric and hydrochloric acid media thus allowing for a more complete recovery of the actinide material and creation of less waste during the processing steps. We will discuss contact experiments for evaluation of eleven different resins for uranium removal from nitric acid, the evaluation (again by contact experiments) of uranium elution from the ion-exchange media by various chemicals, and small-scale experiments for the removal of 235U from nitric acid. Larger-scale (100-gram) flow experiments using depleted uranium, were done after the small-scale evaluation Of the selected resin. A discussion is also included concerning the shortcomings of the contact experiments and how the flow experiments were modified in order to overcome these problems. We will also discuss the application of ion-exchange for some specific process needs at Los Alamos Contact experiments were used to evaluate some commercially available solvent-impregnated resins in addition to evaluation of several resins of this type synthesized in our laboratory. These experiments&apos; involved both nitric and hydrochloric acid media. The data from these experiments will be used to determine the column size and&apos; amount of resin required to polish the waste stream produced by the ion-exchange process described above. Small-scale flow experiments will be described and data given on the mass balances achieved using this two step process. Future work for evaluation of new ion-exchange and solvent-impregnated resins as well as the search for new eluants will be discussed. Other future experiments for both processes, including large-scale experiments, will be discussed in detail.

Jan 1, 1996

By J. P. Evans

The modem &apos;copper smelter today utilizes tonnage oxygen for smelting concentrates. ,generating a high strength S02 off-gas leaving the smelter vessel. This gas stream. which also contains any unreacted oxygen, plus CO2; N2 and H20. also carries with it the volatilized portion of heavy metals in the feed, plus partly oxidized sulfide concentrates, The time/temperature history and subsequent treatment of this off-gas stream emerging from the smelting furnace exit up to the acid plant can influence the partitioning and segregation of heavy metals, in the off-gas circuit. Depending on this history. the type and characteristics of the chemical and physical reactions which occur in the gas handling system &apos;can be influenced. This fact can also be used as a tool to adjust the separation of copper from heavy metals. In this paper, the impact of different time/temperature histories of the gas, due to different furnace geometries and design. on the subsequent formation and characteristics of the smelter dust is examined. Based on the available data. several case histories drawn from examples using both bath and flash smelting technologies are analyzed from this perspective.

Jan 1, 1992

By A. V. Tarasov

The insufficient scientific and technical level of a number of operations in the nonferrous metals industry encourages development of new processes and equipment, including smelting in liquid bath, flame-type sparged smelting unit for combined processes, electrothermal process with the use of alternating current (PDF furnace), electrothermal processing of complex raw materials and intermediate products at nonferrous metallurgical plants, etc. One of the most important aspects for development of new processes and equipment in the Gintsvetmet Institute is their environmental safety. Special attention is paid to environmental protection measures, which is also of important economic and social significance. This refers also to a complete extent to processing of reserves of man-made raw materials and wastes available at the existing operations with the use of innovative techniques ensuring not only resource conservation and environmental protection, but also abatement of negative impact on the nature due to accumulated industrial and domestic waste, reclamation of the land used for waste disposal and recycling of nonferrous metals. Technologies and equipment developed in the Gintsvetmet Institute and based on electrothermal processes determine the prospects for ensuring more integrated usage of ores and man-made raw materials.

Jan 1, 2006

By R. D. Brittain

In order to analyze and control the transport of harmful trace-element impurities in various smelting processes, it is necessary to have fundamental information about the chemical thermodynamic properties of the pertinent condensed and vapor phases. This paper describes recent thermodynamic studies of the gaseous arsenic sulfides and of the activity of arsenic in a copper-iron sulfide matte phase. These studies were carried out by high temperature mass spectrometry and by effusion vaporization techniques, which permitted clear identification of the molecular species involved, a decided advantage in such complex systems. The nature of the results obtained and comparisons with previous interpretations will be described.

Jan 1, 1983

By Q. Chen

The magnetic properties and phase evolution of Nd-lean and/or boron-rich melt- extracted ribbons of Nd98Fe90.2xBx, where x = 6 through 11, have been studied using XRD, DTA, TMA, and VSM. The off-stoichiometric Nd2Fe14B compositions cause additional phases to be present after crystallization and affect the magnetic properties obtained. The crystallization temperature of this alloy series rises with the increasing) boron content. In addition to Nd2Fe14B and a-Fe, Fe3B is detected. It is found that increasing the boron content reduces B, within this composition range. The magnetic properties are directly associated with the relative magnetic phase content in the samples.

Jan 1, 1997