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By T. Neesse

In many cases, the use of hydrocyclone control is desirable for the stabilization of separation in the setting of changing feed conditions. Control concepts based on exact mathematical models are not satisfactory due to the complexity of the physical process. In this case, fuzzy control is a suitable solution. The data are primarily derived from an optical sensor that monitors the outside view of the free underflow stream. A throttling valve, serving as an actuator, is installed in the overflow pipe that regulates the volume split of the cyclone. Applications in closed circuit grinding and in separation plants for tunnel driving, fine sand dewatering, and classification of kaolin demonstrate the typical use of this development. Additionally, the technological characteristics of the cyclone may be improved by this control, which is mainly caused by the increased discharge capacity of the un-der flow nozzle. A further advantage is the option to operate at an optimal operation point. In many cases, this point is located at the transition spray/rope discharge. The improved operation characteristics present new options for extensive applications of fuzzy cyclone control.

Jan 1, 2014

By S. Banisi, A. Ghasemi, S. Zare, F. Ghorbani, E. Nematollahi

"Comminution is the most energy intensive operation which constitutes the major portion of operating and capital costs of the mineral processing plants. Working at the maximum operating capacity of comminution equipment plays a significant role in the efficiency of the circuit. Appropriate design of cone crusher feed box could result in the choked crushing which is known as a vital factor in achieving target performance. In this research, the non-uniform cone crusher feeding at the Sarcheshmeh copper complex was studied and appropriate measures were taken to solve the problem. The problem resulted in non-uniform and high wear rate of crusher liners and high fluctuations of power draw. In recent decades, the discrete element method (DEM) has been applied successfully to study the effect of different factors on the behavior of particles flow. In this work, various designs for feed box were tested using an in-house developed DEM software called KMPCDEM©. The best feed box design obtained from the simulations was selected, constructed and installed in of the cone crushers. The new feed box design resulted in more uniform feed distribution on the distributor plate of crusher indicated by a reduction of the standard deviation of power draw measurements from 13 to 3 kWh. The better control of the crusher, 49% increase in the crusher throughput and finer and narrower product size distribution were the main outcomes of the installation of the new feed box. Furthermore, the wear rate on mantle and liners of crusher not only decreased but it also became uniform.INTRODUCTION Comminution is the most energy intensive operation which constitutes the major portion of operating and capital costs of the mineral processing plants. Reaching the maximum operating capacity in comminution equipment is a key sign of approaching the nominal productivity of the process. Due to the effect of crusher efficiency on the downstream circuit performance, optimization of the crushing circuits has received considerable attention (Herbst, & Potapov, 2004; Quist, & Evertsson, 2010; Li, Huiqi, McDowell, Glenn R, Lowndes and Ian, 2014; Cleary, Sinnott, Morrison, Cummins, & Delaney, 2017). Improving the performance of crushing circuits not only decreases the capital and operating costs but also increases the efficiency of downstream grinding circuits (Jacobson, Janssen, & Urbinatti, 2010). In cone crushers particles can be subjected to two different modes of compressive breakage; single particle breakage (free feeding) and inter-particle breakage (choked feeding). The maximum efficiency of the cone crusher directly depends on the type of feeding arrangement (Operation Manual, 1977). An appropriate feeding must lead to choked feeding the cone crusher. If the rate and method of feeding the crushers are correctly be executed, the maximum efficiency of the crushers could be available (Jacobson et al., 2010)."

Jan 1, 2018

By R. A. Kleiv, H. Havskjold, N. Church, T. Malvik, M. Tro, E. Larsen

Liberation is one of the major purposes of comminution in mineral processing. In the simplest form, two or more minerals are present in a particle and have to be reduced such that the individual particles contain only one mineral. The complexity of the mineral intergrowth varies from ore to ore. Poor magnetic separation of iron ore may have many causes. In this paper, the emphasis is given to the problem of fine magnetite inclusions in quartz or other gangue minerals. This is highlighted by two Norwegian cases: one on a magnetite ore and the other on a hematite/magnetite ore. The inclusions in question are so small that they are not liberated by reasonable grinding. In both cases, the result has been either poor recovery or lower grade concentrates than desired. The first example concerns production of direct reduction concentrates from magnetite. Magnetic inclusions in gangue particles will be magnetized enough for the particles to pass into the concentrate. The second example is given a more detailed study, where the problem is caused by silicates with small inclusions of magnetite in a combined LIMS and WHIMS separation. This study included microscopy, Davies tube testing, and magnetization measurements. In particular, large gangue particles with magnetite inclusions were shown to have a tendency to bypass the LIMS separators as drag forces in presence of hematite are large. Such particles will then be picked up by the WHIMS as their magnetization is higher than for hematite. This was demonstrated by Davies tube tests, which indicated that such particles were picked up in preference to hematite particles. However, the Davies results did not give a good quantification. Magnetization measurements of gangue particles with magnetite inclusions was shown to be a better tool to quantify the magnitude of the effect of magnetite inclusions in magnetic separation.

Jan 1, 2018

By Francisca San Martín, Martin Rudolph, Willy Kracht, Tomás Vargas

It has been shown that bacteria Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans can be used to depress pyrite in seawater flotation at natural pH, which opens the possibility for its use as an alternative to lime to depress pyrite in copper sulfide flotation. In order to have a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in pyrite depression with A. ferrooxidans, an exploratory experimental campaign was carried out, including attachment density and contact angle measurements, and the effect of adding bacteria before or after collector. Biodepression of pyrite improves when increasing pH from 3 to 8, with a decrease in recovery from 92% to 36%. This increase in depressing capability is accompanied by an increase in attachment density, from 2.58×108 bacteria/g to 1.99×109 bacteria/g at pH 3 and 8, respectively, suggesting that the mechanism of depression is related to the attachment of bacteria to the pyrite surface. It was observed that the conditioning sequence with collector and bacteria influences the biodepression capacity of A. ferrooxidans. Having as a reference a value of pyrite recovery equal to 97%, when using only xanthate in seawater flotation at pH 8, the effect of both conditioning with bacteria-followed-by-xanthate and xanthate-followed-by-bacteria were assessed. When bacteria were added before the collector, the recovery of pyrite decreased to 36%. On the other hand, when bacteria were added after collector, the recovery was 64%, showing that biodepression of pyrite with Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is more efficient when the conditioning is carried out first with bacteria. The contact angle values show that there is little effect of the second component added to the system, i.e., if pyrite is first conditioned with bacteria, the contact angle does not change significantly once the xanthate is added (bacteria-followed-by-xanthate). The same was observed when the conditioning sequence was xanthate-followed-by-bacteria.

Jan 1, 2018

By Lorenzo Reyes-Bozo, Ronaldo Herrera-Urbina, Pablo Higueras, Alex Godoy-Faúndez

"The copper mining industry in Chile and perhaps in other countries as well is faced with the challenge to implement the best practices in order to achieve a sustainable and more environment-friendly growth. Relationships between mining industry and society have been historically complex due to its environmental impacts. Whereas the ore grade has declined continuously, this has involved an intensive energy and water consumption thus increasing operational costs at different stages of the concentration process. In the case of copper sulphide ore concentration, froth flotation is the main technology used worldwide. The amount of the different chemical reagents used in flotation plants (i.e., collectors, depressants, frothers and modifiers) affects significantly production costs and has a negative effect on the environment as well. The objective of this research work was to evaluate the use of biosolids and their main components (i.e., glucose, proteins and humic substances) as more environment-friendly flotation collectors for chalcopyrite and molybdenite. For this purpose, microflotation tests were conducted in a modified Hallimond tube. In addition, FTIR and zeta potential experiments were performed to investigate the interaction of biosolids with these sulphide minerals. Biosolids and their main components may interact through physical and chemical ways due to different affinities with such sulphide minerals as chalcopyrite, pyrite and molybdenite, which are present in copper sulphide ores. In alkaline pHs, biosolids and their main components make the zeta potential of the sulphide minerals investigated more negative. These results may provide important information concerning the behavior of the main sulphide minerals in the concentration of copper sulphide ores at industrial scale, wherein mill processes could affect their surfaces properties. Therefore, biosolids and their main components may open an opportunity to be used in copper sulphide flotation plants to partially replace conventional reagents, which are more hazardous and less environment-friendly."

Jan 1, 2014

By F. Bello, J. Engels

"During 2012 and 2013, Minera Esperanza conducted a series of thickening and deposition trials to identify design and operational parameters associated with increased thickening of its tailings. These trials focused on benchmarking the current solids concentration of tailings (62 - 64%) in anticipation of an increase to 67% solids once two new 45 m diameter deep-cone paste thickeners are commissioned in 2014. These trials studied the sedimentation and rheological characteristics of the existing tailings and performed deposition modelling to assist with developing short- and long-term designs for the tailings storage facility. To verify and optimise these models, Minera Esperanza considered a series of laboratory, pilot, and industrial-scale deposition trials. This paper provides a review of the trials conducted in the laboratory and at industrial-scale and considers the results and optimisations for the short- and long-term design of Minera Esperanza’s tailings storage facility."

Jan 1, 2014

By I. Ngoma, Marijke Fagan, Susan Harrison, Rebecca Chiume

"Heap bioleaching is an unsaturated hydrometallurgical extraction process which is commonly applied to the recovery of copper from low grade sulfide ores as well as for preparatory treatment of gold ores. The leaching reactions occur in the liquid phase, catalysed by iron and/or sulfur oxidising micro-organisms. Contact of the mineral grains with the leaching solution is consequently essential for metal recovery. Additionally, the liquid is responsible for the transport of the liberated metal out of the heap under gravitation-driven flow. However, the highly inhomogeneous structure of the heaps coupled with low irrigation rates cause the flow to vary between being gravitationally and capillary dominated, resulting in non-uniform wetting of the ore. In this study a 132 kg agglomerated ore ‘slice’ is used to examine the effect of liquid distribution on microbial colonisation and mineral recovery in a long term bioleach (> 500 days) when irrigation from a single drip emitter source is employed. The novel setup enabled sample collection from ports positioned along the length and height of the ore bed, so that 2D maps of the degree of wetting and microbial colonisation could be generated at different times in the leach. Lateral movement of the liquid increased with bed depth; the majority of flow was below the irrigation point while the top corner of the bed that was not irrigated remained the driest region of the heap throughout the experiment duration. The lowest cell numbers were also recorded in the driest regions. Specifically, cell numbers in the top corner of the bed, 400mm from the irrigation point, remained at undetectable levels until the 283rd day measurement, in line with typical heap operation durations. This indicates that slow colonisation of the heap in the regions between irrigation points may be a significant issue in heap optimisation."

Jan 1, 2014

By B. Vasanthakumar, H. Ravishankar, S. Subramanian, J. Braun

The flotation of sphalerite and galena in the presence of intra- and extra-cellular components isolated from Bacillus circulans before and after adaptation to the chosen minerals has been studied. Based on various biochemical treatments, the key biomolecule primarily responsible for the flotation of sphalerite has been identified as DNA, which functions as a bio-collector. A noteworthy finding is the considerably higher flotation recovery of sphalerite obtained in the presence of single stranded DNA (79.8%) vis-à-vis double stranded DNA (50.2%). Selective flotation tests using the soluble fraction obtained after thermolysis treatment highlight that sphalerite-adapted cells yield a higher selectivity index (S. I.) of 31.2 compared to galena-adapted (S.I. 4.3) or unadapted (S.I. 12.2) cells. During bacterial adaptation to the above chosen minerals, the quantitative and qualitative changes in the surface potential, surface morphology and cell wall components have been monitored. The prior adaptation of the bacteria to sphalerite results in the secretion of a higher amount of proteins, eDNA and phosphate, whereas adaptation to galena leads to a higher amount of polysaccharide, uronic acid and acetylated sugar, vis-à-vis the unadapted bacteria. A significant observation is that the bacteria undergo a change in morphology from rod to sphere as a strategy to resist metal toxicity during adaptation to galena. Interestingly, this phenomenon is not observed during bacterial adaptation to sphalerite. This morphological transition has been shown to involve changes in crucial cell wall components as well as changes in the levels of expression of bacterial cytoskeleton element mreB gene involved in the maintenance of the rod shape. The sequence of B.circulans mreB gene has been identified using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) followed by DNA sequencing.

Jan 1, 2014

By Osvaldo A. Bascur, J. Pat Kennedy

"The profitability of mining and metallurgical operations continues to lag behind that of other industries despite the technical advances that have occurred in recent years. A primary reason for poor performing in this economic sector is the lack of integration of mining and metallurgical information. The mine cut-off grade can be optimized if mining and metallurgical engineers have the data to optimize milling for the type of ore in hand.Integration of mine transactions, stockpile inventories, process flows and assays is the key to determining the economics for each blast strategy in a mining site. Real-time information from manufacturing assets greatly affects the profitability and flexibility of a company, but gross errors from faulty sensors, inaccurate instrument calibration, or incorrect process models may corrupt actionable information. New software tools can model the process, sift through available data to identify and eliminate gross errors, and use statistical data reconciliation to create materially balanced and consistent readings. The reconciled data is unified for use by both monitoring and decision making processes.Creating a real-time information environment where upgrade and change are allowed is becoming an accepted methodology to accelerate and simplify the integration of applications such as production monitoring, equipment performance management and yield and inventory management.This paper describes the data integration requirements in a mine, concentrator and port for unification of the redundant data. The capture of the mining events, stock pile management and the metallurgical information is the base requirements for a dynamic environment to reduce the overwhelming amount of information to unified set of information. Part of any decision support program should entail these results to continuously improve the measurement system to address the costs in mine and milling the ore."

Jan 1, 2003

By D. Tang

The froth zone in a flotation cell is recognised as a region which contributes to the overall flotation performance. Froth recovery is a measure of the efficiency with which the froth phase delivers particles arriving at the pulp-froth interface to the concentrate. Poor froth recovery in scavenger stages is generally attributed to poor froth stability. The key indicators of froth performance: froth recovery, entrainment and water recovery were measured in an OK3 pilot cell installed at a zinc concentrator in Australia and supplied with scavenger feed. Cell hydrodynamic and pulp chemical conditions during the operation of the cell were also measured as well as bubble growth across the froth phase. The objective of the work was to assess the impact of a number of commercial frothers on the froth performance in the OK3 cell and assess the suitability of using bubble growth as an indicator of froth stability.

Jan 1, 2014

By Rainer M. Lotzien, Michael J. G. Battersby, Jan Kleefeld, Julian V. Brown, Rainer M. Imhof

"The standard method of separation using flotation is compromised in terms of kinetics and efficiency, because of the generally slow separating differentials of fine bubbles and fine particle suspensions. A new flotation system has been developed that addresses these issues and imparts other benefits. The new technology is based on established pneumatic flotation designs called Imhoflot which use intensive in-line pre-aeration to aerate the flotation pulp prior to its introduction to the separating cell. Consequently the cell is designed only for the separation of the phases and not for bubble-particle contact. In the new system this separation is speeded up dramatically by the introduction of centrifugal motivation in the separating vessel, without the use of internal moving parts. The design focuses on providing increased differential forces on buoyant mineralised bubbles and hydrophilic fines. The observed result of these differential forces is the improvement of concentrate qualities by the reduction of the amount of misplaced material found in the froth. The commercial benefit to industry is much reduced residence time, less than 30 seconds, which offers considerable cost savings in equipment and infrastructure.Prototypes of 0.65m, 1.7m and 2.2m cell diameter size have been constructed for hydrodynamic and industrial scale tests to assess the previously established computational methods for scale up of the process. The 1.7m cell has been installed and operated for cleaning of potash concentrates in Germany, at throughputs of 150 m3/hr, with extremely encouraging results. A 2.2m cell has been installed and operated in plant trials for superfine coal in South Africa. Results are presented that illustrate the effects of differential separations by comparison with conventional pneumatic and mechanical flotation techniques. Predictions of performance are provided in the contexts of the applications tested."

Jan 1, 2003

By S. H. Lau

Rapid 3D characterization of multiphase mineral particles in a variety of mineral processing applications is described, including: mineral liberation analysis, grain size, mineral exposure analysis, particle damage, and pore network structure for fluid flow simulation in heap leaching. While micro X-ray computed tomography systems (microCTs) have been used for many years, industrial adoption is limited due to a variety of reasons, including insufficient resolution, the general lack of imaging contrast to differentiate different mineral phases within a multiphase mineral particle and the lack of automated 3D mineral processing software. For example, resolution with industrial CTs and desktop microCT is of the order of tens of microns to a few microns at best, depending on specimen size and CT configuration. We describe a novel lab-based X-ray microscope, XRM, which overcomes these resolution and contrast limitations, notably as the industry is going towards finer grains and more complex ore bodies. Using lens-based optics and detectors (similar to its XRM counterpart in synchrotron beam lines), resolution of the lab based system is in the submicron range with contrast better than conventional microCTs. Hence, visualization, differentiation and segmentation of most mineral phases of interest to the industry are now feasible. Coupling these high resolution and high contrast tomography images with a suite of customized 3D segmentation algorithms and analysis software, applications in mineral liberation analysis for process control, particle damage assessment and other mineral processing applications can be achieved. This non invasive 3D technique which requires relatively little sample preparation is currently being considered for coal, industrial minerals, and base/precious metal ores, complementing existing microscopy techniques such as QEMSCAN and MLA for a variety of applications

Sep 1, 2012

By M. Z. He

Attractive particle interactions which underpin the sliming of gangue mineral particles onto valuable mineral phases are encountered in a number of flotation circuits. Sliming leads to poor flotation recovery of the valuable minerals and high recovery of the gangue particles in the concentrate. To mitigate sliming, low molecular weight poly-electrolytes are commonly used as dispersants during pulp conditioning prior to flotation separation of the valuable and gangue mineral phases. In the present work, the sliming mechanism of sericite onto chalcocite and the influence of interfacial chemistry and two anionic copolymer dispersants (carboxylate substituted polyacrylamide, polymer Cyquest 3223 and sulfonate substituted polymaleic acid, polymer P80) on the sliming interactions were probed in the pH range 5~9. It was shown that the sliming occurred under solution conditions where both chalcocite and sericite particles were negatively charged, as evidenced by their apparent particle zeta potentials. The suspension pH had a profound effect on sliming process as the extent was markedly greater at lower than higher pH. The sliming was found to be due to the chalcocite dissolution, Cu (I) release and oxidation to Cu (II), followed by hydrolysis and specific adsorption, leading to sericite particle surface charge reversal and the formation of electropositive sites on chalcocite surface in the pH range 5~9. Addition of polymer Cyquest 3223 or P80 not only increased the magnitude of zeta potentials of both sericite and chalcocite particles but also reduced the formation of Cu (II) ions and complexes, which mitigated the sliming behaviour. The adsorption of polymer Cyquest 3223 or P80 at 3 g polymer / kg solid or more had a significant impact on the zeta potentials of both sericite and chalcocite particles. Sericite-chalcocite particulate adsorption studies showed that sliming was completely suppressed via an electro-steric repulsion mechanism resulting from anionic polymeric dispersant adsorption at dosages > 3 g polymer / kg solid.

Jan 1, 2014

By L. A. Cisternas, R. I. Jeldres, C. Cruz, P. A. Robles

"Previous studies have shown that the floatability of chalcopyrite in seawater at highly alkaline conditions is significantly affected by the presence of clays. The reason is that the species of calcium and magnesium present in seawater under those conditions may act as a bridge between the surfaces of clay and chalcopyrite, generating massive aggregates that then depress. In this context, the objective of this work is to analyze the impact of pretreated seawater with low amount of calcium and magnesium ions on the recovery of a sulphide copper mineral with high kaolinite content as clay. The seawater pre-treatment is done by the addition of sodium hydroxide in a high carbon dioxide environment. The chemical reactions realized under these conditions lead to the formation and precipitation of calcium and magnesium species that are subsequently removed by vacuum filtration. The pre-treated seawater is then used in flotation tests at pH 11 for copper sulphide, where the mineral is synthetically prepared by mixtures of chalcopyrite, kaolinite, and quartz. When comparing the flotation results for different types of water, including seawater and pre-treated seawater, a significant effect is observed: as the seawater hardness decreases, which comprises the calcium and magnesium ions, the recovery of chalcopyrite is increased. However, the effect is markedly enhanced in the presence of kaolinite. Therefore, the results indicate that sodium hydroxide and carbon dioxide are able to remove different species of calcium and magnesium from seawater and could improve the chalcopyrite recovery with high kaolinite content. INTRODUCTIONIn many cases, mineral deposits are found in arid areas with little access to water resources. Water is a fundamental element to carry out the unit operations that achieved the separation of valuable minerals (especially in concentration operations). Seawater has acquired an interesting role in recent years (Cisternas and Moreno, 2014); in fact, it seems to be one of the few viable options to ensure the sustainability of the mining industry in arid zones. At present, there are numerous experiences of industries that use or have used this resource, either by submitting the seawater to a desalination treatment by reverse osmosis or by applying it directly, without desalting. The latter case may involve significant economic benefits (for example, by avoiding the investment of building a desalination plant) and in some cases some operational benefits. A positive aspect is that in general terms the foaming in the saline medium is much more efficient compared to fresh water (Quinn et al., 2014; Castro et al., 2010). Some reports show that the foaming doses required to achieve a certain quality of bubbles are remarkably reduced, reaching exceptional cases such as Xstrata's Raglan concentrator, where it did not even include foaming to carry out the operation. This fact is quite promising, considering that some researchers have stated that controlling the quality of bubbles and foam could float minerals through coarse particles. This would lead to multiple benefits, such as energy savings by avoiding excessive grinding and a lower presence of fine ore that causes major problems in water recovery operations by gravitation (such as thickening) and in tailings management. However, seawater also causes significant challenges in multiple operations (Jeldres et al., 2017, 2016; Castro et al., 2010), as for example in minerals with high clay content (Uribe et al., 2017). In fresh water, the presence of clays minerals in ores is already a major problem in the flotation stages since the operation becomes difficult to be controlled, and operators are commonly forced to increase the consumption of reagents because the collectors are deposited on the clays' surfaces reducing froth stability (Farrokhpay and Bradshaw, 2012). Sometimes the use of rheology-modifying reagents should also be incorporated since the pulps become more visc"

Jan 1, 2018

By S. A. Kondratyev

"The present research work aims at disclosing the dependence of flotation concentrate recovery and its grade on the physically adsorbed collecting reagent properties, viz., surface pressure in the reagent film at gas-liquid interface, velocity of reagent species spreading over the said interface, relation between interaction energies of collector molecules within a film and with water dipoles.When using a single collecting reagent it is possible to improve the flotation concentrate grade in two ways, namely, by reducing collector consumption rate or using a weaker reagent. According to the proposed mechanism, a decrease in the physically sorbed species of the collector leads to a decrease in the rate of removal of the kinetic restriction of a flotation contact formation. As a result, the recovery of the useful component is reduced and the content of valuable components in the flotation concentrate is increased. The relationship between the spreading velocity of physically sorbed species at the gas-liquid interface and the recovery and quality of the flotation concentrate has been experimentally proved. Reduction in collector consumption lowered the valuable component recovery at a higher grade of the concentrate.The reasons were established for a rise of valuable content in the flotation concentrate if a weaker collector was used. It is justified that the use of a weaker collecting reagent with a shorter hydrocarbon fragment declines physically sorbed species of collector. The spreading velocity of collector derivatives at gas-liquid interface tends to lower along with less participation physically sorbed species of collector in formation of a flotation aggregate. The spreading velocity is determined for products of interaction between butyl-and ethyl-xanthates and lead nitrate at gas-liquid interface. It is found that the spreading velocity of butyl-xanthate derivatives is higher than that of ethylxanthate derivatives.The research work gets insight into the nature of relation between useful component content in the flotation concentrate and the useful component recovery. It is pointed out that adjusting the collecting activity of a collector makes it possible to influence a useful component content in the froth product thus gaining a compromise between wanted grade and recovery parameters."

Jan 1, 2018

By Z. S. Abisheva

Results of the study targeted to development of universal acidic-extraction-precipitation technology for gallium recovery from the sublimates are presented in the paper. This will let to utilize a new non-traditional source for gallium production. Phase composition of gallium containing dust was studied. Forms of gallium in the sublimates were determined. The main form is Ga2O3, however, GaP form is also present in the cottrel dust and Na5Ga3F14 form is present in the dust of aluminum electrolysis. The possibility of gallium concentration was established via secondary pyro-selection of the dust. Kinetics of interaction of dust components with sulfuric acid was studied. The products of the interaction subsequently were leached with water. Optimum conditions for direct leaching with HCl and H2SO4 were determined providing gallium recovery from the cottrel dust and the ash carry outs up to 95 %. Gallium recovery from the primary dust and the secondary dust of aluminum electrolysis was at 52; 64 % and 63; 83 % respectively. Effect of Fe, P, K, Na and Al admixtures for gallium extraction from hydrochloric acid solutions was studied. It was shown that gallium chloride complex (GaCl4-) is extracted into the organic phase from the following acid mixtures: HCl + H2SO4, HCl + H3PO4, HCl + H2SO4 + H3PO4, HCl + HF. Kinetic regularities of gallium extraction in the system (tri butyl phosphate) TBP ? HCl - Ga were studied using diffusion cell method with agitation. Optimum conditions for gallium extraction from complex hydrochloric acid solutions with TBP were found providing 99.9 % recovery and separation coefficient for gallium and iron (III) of more than 25 in one stage. Sodium hydroxide and water were selected as reagents for re-extraction of gallium from the organic phase. Different options for disposal of by-products that are formed in the processing of cottrel dust, ash sublimates and dust of aluminum electrolysis were proposed and tested. Keywords: gallium, kinetic, sulfatization, leaching, extraction, technology

Sep 1, 2012

The Sydvaranger magnetite mine was shut down in 1996 due to low iron ore prices. It was reopened in 2009. The flowsheet has remained more or less as in the old plant, based upon two grinding steps followed by magnetic separation. The Sydvaranger magnetite is free of harmful elements and should therefore be sold on the high quality market. This requires a concentrate containing less than 2 % SiO2. In the old plant, this grade was achieved by amine flotation. Amine was preferred as collector because it could be used in process water from the sea. The use of amine has been restricted by the Norwegian pollution authorities during the time the mine was shut down. Test work to replace cationic with anionic flotation is therefore done. Research on activation of quartz with Ca or Mg ions prior to anionic flotation was shown by basic research in the period from 1960 to 1980 to be effective under simplified laboratory conditions. This old research has now been followed up from a practical/empirical point of view. The basic work was mainly done on quartz and iron minerals only. In this case, an actual feed containing a number of minerals common in iron ores is used, in order to demonstrate that a commercial process is possible. Calcium activation is shown to work excellently but requires too high pH to be environmentally and economically attractive. Magnesium activation is a more difficult process, because the maximum concentration of MgOH+, which was shown to be the activator, is about 100 times lower than the alternative CaOH+. Flotation success depends partly upon the ore, some amphibole minerals are more difficult to float than pure quartz. Ordinary batch flotation test work is time consuming. A South African microflotation test cell has shown promise, because work can be focused upon flotation of the more critical coarser fractions of the Sydvaranger ore. Keywords: iron ore concentration, anionic flotation, mineral activation, microflotation, Sydvaranger

Sep 1, 2012

By Hillary Williams, Ronghao Li, Christopher Marion, Kristian E. Waters, Devin Hundt

"Zircon is an important mineral for ceramic, foundry, casting, and refractory applications; and it is the worlds primary source for zirconium. Zircon can also contain large and valuable proportions of other valuable metals, such as rare earth elements and hafnium. The Nechalcho deposit (Northwest Territories, Canad), is a hard rock REE deposit, which looks to recover zircon for its Zr and REE content. In this deposit, zircon is finely disseminated and associated with predominately silicate gangue minerals. Most of the work to date has focused on the beneficiation of mineral sand deposit, which typically remove silicate gangue minerals through physical separation steps. Therefore, the separation of zircon from silicate gangue, such as quartz, by flotation, has received little attention. This work used zeta potential measurements and microflotation experiments to understand the interaction between zircon and six different collectors (sodium oleate, sodium dodecyl sulphate, dodecylamine, SM 15, K-octyl hydroxamate and Florrea 7510). The results were compared with those of quartz. This study indicated that selective separation of zircon from quartz without the use of selective depressants or activators is likely challenging. The findings suggested sodium oleate and SM 15 only offered selective flotation of zircon in highly acidic conditions. Separation by the flotation of quartz is possible using sodium dodecyl sulphate, dodecylamine and K-octylhydroxamate. However, selective separation is highly dependant on collector dosage, for dodecylamine, and the selective activation of quartz, for sodium dodecyl sulphate and K-octyl hydroximate. Florrea 7510 offered poor recoveries for both zircon and quartz.INTRODUCTIONZircon (ZrSiO2) is a nesosilicate mineral which has a wide variety of applications, due to its hardness, opaqueness and resistance to heat and corrosion. Its major end uses are in ceramic, foundry, casting, and refractory applications (Bedinger, 2017). Zircon is also the most abundant zirconium (Zr) bearing mineral in the earths crust and is the principal economic source of Zr (primarily used in alloys for heat and corrosion resistance) and zirconia (ZrO2) (primarily used in ceramics) (Bedinger, 2017; Milnes and Fitzpatrick, 1989). Zircon forms in silicate melts and can often contain large proportions of other valuable metals such as rare earth elements (REE), and hafnium (zircon is the primary source of hafnium) (Bedinger, 2017; Belousova et al., 2002; Orlova, 2007). A common chemical formula showing the range of substitution in zircon is (Zr,Hf,Th,U,REE,Ca,Fe,Nb,Ta)(Si,P)O4 (Orlova, 2007)."

Jan 1, 2018

The reactivity of clay minerals and variety of these reactions are greater than any other known colloidal material. While it is acknowledged that clay minerals can cause problems in mineral flotation, the literature contains conflicting evidence, particularly with respect to the effect of clays on froth stability. It is well known that achieving and maintaining optimum froth stability is an influential factor in determining froth flotation performance. However, the presence of clay minerals in the ore is a major challenge to obtaining a stable froth. In fact, clay minerals could reduce froth flotation performance by both decreasing and increasing froth stability. The mechanism by which clay minerals affect froth stability is not fully understood and needs to be investigated further. In order to improve flotation performance, reliable knowledge of the effect of clay minerals on froth stability is essential which is discussed in this paper. Keywords: froth flotation, froth stability, clay, clay minerals

Sep 1, 2012

By Henrique Kahn, Daniel Uliana, Juliana Antoniassi, Viviane Shimizu

"Mineral exploration and geometallurgy require a large number of samples for physical, chemical and mineralogical assays. The combination of all these data and their spatial distribution define the ore variability. This is important in exploration programs and crucial in feasibility studies as well as at the production operation level. Ore mineralogical composition and its associations, characterizing the geological formation and mineralization, are the main keys to define the ore domains and its variability, which can be quickly assessed by cluster analysis and by modern automated mineralogy tools. One hundred and ten copper ore samples from Sossego mine, in Brazil were compared and classified by X-ray diffraction cluster analysis based on the position and the intensity of the diffracted peaks. Initially four ore types were categorized based on content of major minerals: quartz, feldspar, amphibole, iron oxides, mica and chlorite. Results showed a strong correlation between the grouping and the samples location in Sequeirinho and Sossego orebodies, with a straight link to types/intensities of hydrothermal alteration prevailing in each body, which reflects the mineralogical composition and thus the X-ray patterns. Samples from four recognized ore types were submitted to detailed automated mineralogical studies by electron beam image analysis and differ strongly from each other regarding their chemical and mineralogical compositions and relevant parameters for mineral processing. Chalcopyrite is essentially the only valuable mineral, occurring both as submillimetric grains included in other minerals and as larger crystals. Except for pyrite, other sulfide minerals occur as traces. Chalcopyrite liberation curves indicate that samples from Sossego have higher liberation degree than those from Sequeirinho. The proposed method proved to be very efficient and accurate to classify a large number of samples within a short time frame, allowing the distinction of the ore types regarding their mineralogical composition as well as the mineral processing parameters."

Jan 1, 2014