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By Zhou Junwu, Sun Chuanyao, Wang Fuli

"In this present paper, the authors introduce the artificial neural networks into the modeling of the industrial flotation process, integrating information technology, control theory and intelligent optimizing method to flotation technology. The new idea gives a new way to solve the difficulty in this field, and therefore brings the study on the automatic control of flotation process in China into a new start.The Radial Basis Function (RBF) network, featuring a quick learning speed, is one of the feedforward neural networks. It has attracted much attention from automatic control recently for its implementing the nonlinearity mapping through adjusting the parameters of the nonlinearity transfer function. One of the online adaptive learning algorithm—the nearest neighbor-clustering algorithm, which can automatically determine the number of hidden units, has been implemented in the MATLAB programming language in this paper, laying the foundation for the flotation models.The relation model between ore pulp characteristics and reagents consumption has been proposed using the RBF networks based on the industrial lead rougher flotation of lead & zinc ore, and the simulation has been conducted in the laboratory with the results matching the samples data very well. The Xilin Lead & Zinc Mine Flotation Process Intelligent Consultation System of Reagents Consumption, which suitable for industrial process, has been developed. The reagents consumption advised by this system would stabilize the flotation process, and increase the recoveries. It could be used for providing the technological consultation to flotation operators in site, and for training new operators."

Jan 1, 2003

By Atsushi Shibayama, Toyohisa Fujita, Luo Lin, Toshio Miyazaki

A novel process is developed in this study for separation of tungsten and vanadium from a leach solution of tungsten alloy scraps. Specifically, a magnesium salt combined ammonium solution is employed to precipitate vanadium and impurities in the purification of the leach solution. This separates vanadium from tungsten by rejecting tungsten in aqueous solution. Finally, tungsten is recovered as the form of ammonium para-tungstate (APT). Vanadium is recovered as the form of ammonium meta-vanadate(AMV).

Jan 1, 2003

By John C. Gathje, Rick Moritz, Wilhelm de Beer, Gary L. Simmons

"Froth flotation has a long history of success for the recovery and concentration of a wide variety of minerals of commercial interest. Both the art and science of flotation have progressed greatly, and as our knowledge has increased so has our ability to improve mineral separations and recoveries.One area of interest in recent years has been the flotation of refractory gold ores to recover the goldbearing sulfides. In many instances, the use of conventional air flotation to concentrate these values has achieved only limited success. However, as a result of intensive research, Newmont Mining has expanded the boundaries of flotation, and it can now be used to successfully treat many gold-bearing sulfide ores as well as platinum and palladium ores. This has been achieved through the use of the patented N2TEC technology, which utilizes nitrogen as an inert gas in the flotation process."

Jan 1, 2003

By Pradip, Beena Rai

A molecular modeling study was carried out on an adsorbed oleate monolayer on the surfaces of three calcium minerals, fluorite, calcite and fluorapatite using Universal Force Field (UFF) potentials. The cleavage plane of calcite {104} was the best template for oleate monolayer adsorbed since the surface structure enabled all the calcium sites available on the surface to be occupied by oleate anions. The area occupied per chain of oleate in this well packed monolayer was computed to be 20.2 Å, which exactly matches the value calculated to be the parking area per oleate molecule for a fully packed monolayer based on strictly geometric calculations. On the other hand, the precentage of calcium sites occupied by oleate to achieve a fully packed monolayer in case of fluroite and and fluorapatite was found to be 67% and 75% respectively. The results of this theoretical study suggest that while all the three adsorption conformations, that is unidentate, bidentate and bridging type are equally likely on fluorite and fluorapatite, bridging is most likely on calcite. Interestingly, all the conformations are observed experimentally for calcite-oleate system also. The reasons for this discrepancy between the theoretical predictions and experimental observations are not clear. More work is required to resolve this discrepancy, in particular simulation studies in presence of solvent water molecules on the surface.

Jan 1, 2003

By Takashi Furuyama, Sukeyuki Mori, Ltd. Kyushu Metal Industry Co., Abel Bissombolo, Yoshitsugu Koga, Masamichi Hata

"Actually, the recovery of valuable metals such as iron, aluminium and copper is a nowadays practice in factories dealing with the processing of scrapped automobiles (Harder (WERG); Koga et al., 1997). This process has reach a recycling rate of about 75%, and generates a huge volume of waste (including cottons, sponge, plastics, rubber, etc…), locally known as “shredder dust”, which is commonly dumped on landfills; its recycling is either unsatisfactorily or not yet performed (Keller and Schebdat, 2000).The saturation and depletion of valuable disposal sites in the not-so-distant future, as well as the social and environmental problems related to the accumulation of these residues disposals are a major challenge for the automobile shredding industry.To promote an alternative way for the management of these disposals, the authors have initiated and developed a system for their processing, on the basis that more than 90% of these residues are combustible materials that could be used as refuses derived fuel. The developed processing system points out the mechanical/physical separation of a calibrated (–80+5mm) shredded automobiles residues into two streams by means of an ascending airflow passing through a vertical zigzag separator and, the compaction of the light-weight materials (that is about 60% of auto shredder residue recovered as float products and mainly composed of cotton, sponges and light plastics) to form a refuse derived fuel (RDF), the density, calorific value and ignition loss of which are 1.19 g/cm3, 4470 kcal/kg and 60.7%, respectively. A sedimentation tank is used to recover the light-weight materials deported in the heavy fraction stream."

Jan 1, 2003

By Jurgens J. Louw, Vincent C. Smith, Gareth C. Smith, Agit Singh, Dave G. Hulbert

"During 2000 Mintek Developed the PlantStar plant wide control platform for the minerals processing industry. The flexibility of the PlantStar control platform has enabled Mintek to investigate and easily develop new control strategies for both milling and flotation. This includes a Solids Feed Controller, a Safety Limit Controller, Mill Power Optimiser and Flotation Optimiser, amongst others.Processes with long dead times, like a feed belt to a mill, are difficult to control. The solids feed controller was developed for minerals processing plants using a specialised time delay compensator. Using conventional time delay compensators that are purely model based, results in robustness problems due to model uncertainties. The Mintek Solid Feeds Controller makes use of a plant model, but compensates for model inaccuracies, giving more controller stability and a more robust delay compensation algorithm.Often there are more variables on a plant that need to be controlled (process variables) than there are variables to control them with (manipulated variables). Process constraints are often reached and violated. Safety control loops are necessary to prevent constraints being reached. The safety limit controller has been developed to switch smoothly between normal and safety control loops without bumping the process. The safety loop output is chosen in accordance with a predefined list of priorities and whether the respective constraint boundaries are exceeded.The Mill Power Optimiser helps to find the power peak on the mill power curve. It continuously perturb the solids feed rate to learn ‘where’ on the curve the mill ‘was’ and then to drive it continuously toward the middle, maximum power drawn. This insures maximum grind with maximum throughput. It also prevents power dips due to mill overloads by cutting the solids feed to a minimum if the power drop below a specified threshold. Once the power rises above the threshold the solids feed is increased again to an intermediate value from where it start the perturbations again to find the maximum. This makes the milling circuit easier to operate."

Jan 1, 2003

By J. B. Rubinstein

"The paper gives an overview of the history of flotation machine development. The laws of their evolution are stated and the place and role of column flotation are demonstrated.The major parameters of column cell diameter and height are discussed. Options are proposed for optimization of the hydrodynamic characteristics of large-capacity column cells. The high efficiency of columns with cell height of 4-6 m is demonstrated. The optimum parameters of multisectional column machines are determined. Their advantages compared to monocells are shown. A scaling-up procedure for column machines was developed based on flotation macro- and microhydrodynamics simulation."

Jan 1, 2003

By Richard K. Komarek, Antonios Zavaliangos, Roman T. Dec

"The work in the paper introduces a 2-dimensional finite element model for analyzing particular material processing in a roller press. Two basic roller geometries are considered: (a) smooth rolls (used for milling and compaction) and (b) rolls with cavities, commonly used for briquetting. A model is presented that is suitable to analyze material behavior through all stages of the rolling process: feeding zone, nip region, neutral plane and release section. It can predict pressure, shear stress, slip of the material over the roller surface, material velocity field, failure of the compact during release and the course of other important process variables.MODEL, RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSAn associated Gurson model was employed as a constitutive model for the material. The calibration of the model was based on experimental results from an instrumented compaction die. Coulomb friction law was used to describe phenomena on the material/roller surface interface. Powder River Basin sub bituminous coal fines with moisture content 9% was used as a model material.Two finite element models have been set up, one for the briquetting roll and one for the “equivalent” flat roll. Approximately 3200 plain strain continuum elements with reduced integration (CPE4R) were used. Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) approach in conjunction with judiciously applied remeshing was employed with the commercially-available, dynamic explicit version of ABAQUS finite element code.Comparison of model predictions with experiment shows that there is an agreement in terms of the general trends of experimental values recorded on laboratory roller presses. Gurson model overpredicts stresses at low densities and, as a consequence, overpredicts roll force and roll torque."

Jan 1, 2003

By Sarah K. DeBono, Alan J. Monaghan, Emmanuel V. Manlapig, Gregory J. Harbort

"The Jameson Cell is a type of flotation machine in which air and pulp are brought together in a vertical tube called a downcomer. Within the downcomer the air and pulp are dispersed into a dense foam of fine bubbles, which creates a favourable environment for bubble-particle collision and subsequent collection of hydrophobic particles. The intense collection zone within the downcomer can be considered similar to the zone between the rotor and stator in mechanical flotation cells.Research into the bubble-particle collision and fluid dynamics of mechanical cells rotor-stator zone has been limited by the difficulty of achieving accurate measurements in production sized machines. With the Jameson Cell the downcomer is largely external and separated from the flotation tank, allowing ready access to the primary contacting zone for measurement and analysis.An investigation has been undertaken into the operating characteristics of the downcomer relating to bubble-particle collision. An effective mapping of the downcomer has been made through measurements of void fraction and bubble size taken across cross sections of the downcomer. Analysis of these measurements has provided an interpretation of the variations in the air and fluid dynamics, bubble size and distribution throughout the downcomer chamber."

Jan 1, 2003

By Briony C. Ruse, David V. Boger, Fiona Sofra1

"The sustainability of the mining industry must be addressed through improving tailings management. The use of thickened tailings and pastes stems from a paradigm shift towards designing tailings disposal sites to suit their surrounding environment, rather than manipulating the environment to accommodate the tailings. Thickened tailings and pastes usually exhibit non-Newtonian behaviour, so a thorough understanding of the rheological characteristics of the material is required in order to determine the disposal plant operating conditions.As environmental factors translate into economic issues, minimising waste production using dry disposal methods is gaining popularity. The use of rheological information is of high importance in evaluating the spreading characteristics, the transportation and the dewatering of thickened mineral tailings. The principles outlined may be applied to many industries encompassing a wide range of waste materials. The main obstacle to the widespread implementation of dry disposal methods has been the high initial capital cost of the methods due to the dewatering step, and the high cost of pumping thick suspensions across any great distance. Proper and thorough costing of tailings disposal activities combined with an accounting approach that shows closure and post-closure care costs on a per tonne basis of tailings disposed throughout the life of the tailings facility will show that dry disposal methods are more favourable than they might seem on initial appraisal."

Jan 1, 2003

By J. Tian

"BHP Billiton carried out a pre-feasibility study on the LanPing zinc deposit to evaluate the possibility to jointly develop the zinc deposit into a large-scale zinc project with their Chinese partner. The unique characteristics of the complex LanPing zinc orebody and ore are 1) smithsonite (ZnCO3) as one of major zinc bearing mineral besides sphalerite, 2) varying and irregular oxidation degree of zinc (0 ~ +90%) in the different zone and depth of the deposit, and 3) varying host gangue from limestone/calcite dominant to quartz dominant, which requires a robust and flexible flotation process to recovery zinc from both sulphide and oxide efficiently.The conventional mineral processing flowsheets have been tested on the LanPing samples taken from the various orebodies by various parties during the past 20 years that includes a sequential flotation flowsheet that was tested in a demonstration plant using the mixed ore. The results of the demonstration plant runs show that the conventional oxide flotation using Na2S and amine collectors could achieve 50 ~ 75% of oxide zinc recovery at very high sulphidiser consumption for the mixed ore but the highly oxidised ore did not satisfactorily respond to the flowsheet in terms of performance consistency and efficiency of oxide zinc recovery, which is very crucial to the overall economics of the project."

Jan 1, 2003

By Peter N. Holtham, Mary M. Ng

"Resistivity measurements of minerals in the laboratory are commonly made with a low DC voltage source. Common test voltages specified in the ASTM Standard D257 are 100, 250, 500, 1000, 2500, 5000, 10000 and 15000 V, however 100 and 500 V are the most frequently used. Resistivity results obtained in the laboratory have been used to infer the electrical behaviour of minerals undergoing electrostatic separation. However because the voltages employed in electrostatic separation in the plant are of the order of thousands of volts, typically greater than 15000 V, whether the laboratory results are applicable as a predictor of plant performance is a critical question. It is unclear whether resistivity values taken at a low voltage are characteristic of those seen in electrostatic separation, in which the minerals are exposed to a much higher voltage. No definitive answer could be found in the literature.In this work, the resistivities of zircon, rutile and ilmenite were measured in a corona field for the first time. The measurement principle was based on a technique developed to measure fly ash resistivity in electrostatic precipitators, however the test apparatus and findings are novel.Resistivities of rutile and zircon were found to be easy to measure. The values measured in a corona field were several orders of magnitude less than those obtained with a dc voltage of 100 V. Evidence of back corona was observed with zircon. When the voltage drop was greater than the sample layer could withstand a localised electrical stress developed, resulting in a voltage breakdown, at which point a sudden surge of corona current (back corona) was detected in the sample layer. Rutile, on the other hand, exposed to the same conditions as that of zircon (i.e. same temperature and applied voltage) did not exhibit any sign of back corona. Its resistivity across the range of test voltages (14 to 33 kV) remained fairly constant."

Jan 1, 2003

By Francesco Montanari, Gianni Schena

"Recent improvements in X-ray computed tomography allow investigation of objects several tens of millimetres in dimension with spatial resolutions in the order of a few microns. These improvements are made possible by coupling the micro-focus technology adopted by some of the latest cone-beam X-ray sources with an increase in the efficiency of the detectors. The micro-focus technology allows the production of clearer images at high magnification by reducing the penumbra (fuzziness) associated with larger focal spot size.Even higher resolutions can be expected in the next few years with the commercialisation of nano-focus X-ray tubes. In practice one can inspect a system of fine composite particles and analyze the different mineralogical phases in each individual particle. Computed tomography allows accurate liberation studies, e.g. providing liberation spectra or washability data in tens of minutes. However, on-line application of micro-focus computed tomography is unlikely in the foreseeable future, despite rapid development.Dual-energy (DE) radiography is another X-ray technique, which allows retrieval of the volumetric content of valuable components in two-phase particles in a fraction of a second. A digital radiograph of a single two-phase particle produces a grey level image, where the luminosity of the pixels is determined by the sum of the attenuation levels of all the structures. Thus morphological and compositional effects concur to produce the radiographic image, which does not allow retrieval of the composition of the particle, as the 3D-structure of the particle is compressed into a 2D-image, with an obvious loss of information. Thus, in principle it is not possible to discriminate between thick, comparatively penetrable, and thin, comparatively impenetrable mineralogical components."

Jan 1, 2003

By Matti Kongas, Kari Saloheimo, Antti Remes

"The paper studies the control performance of the flotation process as a function of the measurement accuracy and sampling frequency of an on-stream XRF analyzer, using a simple dynamic model. An additional aim is to assess how the economical result of a mineral flotation process depends on the quality of process control based on the on-line elemental assays.An on-stream XRF analyzer measures the concentrations of slurry lines in a continuous cycle from several process points. The control performance depends on the analytical accuracy and sampling frequency of the concentration measurement. With a long cycle time, the state of the process changes before a new measurement becomes available. With short measurement times the statistical variance of the counted Xray pulses increases, increasing the random error in the analysis. In addition, the measurement accuracy depends on the concentration of the component to be measured from the slurry.To quantify the effect of analysis error and frequency to process control, a simple dynamic process model is created in the Matlab environment. Data from a copper flotation circuit is used as a test case. The process model comprises a first order reaction equation and the grade-recovery -relationship estimated from process data. The control was modeled using the control strategies implemented into a rule based advanced control system. The economical performance of the control was studied by calculating the overall net smelter return at various analyzer parameter combinations."

Jan 1, 2003

By Jim Petrie, Mary Stewart, Damien Giurco

This paper describes a generic approach to analysing the environmental and economic performance of a generic global mineral/metal value chain, with the express view of improving the quality of prospective decision-making within the industry in order to ensure more sustainable outcomes. As a point of departure we propose that it is not possible to place metals in the context of the sustainable development of society without paying due regard to the entire metals value chain. Thus, the starting point for this analysis is the development of a global stocks flows and transformations model, for the metal of interest. Any aspect of the value chain, e.g. “metals refining, “goods manufacture”, “use and disposal”, can be assessed, either relative to other stages in the value chain, or in more detail by focusing on the technologies used within that stage. The use of this model as a decision support tool is explored here for the case of copper. Both primary and secondary production routes are enumerated, covering a range of processes, for seven distinct geographic regions around the globe. The value of the modelling approach is explored for different energy mixes. In particular, the case study examines the impact of increased recycling on the (re) distribution of global and regional environmental impacts for technologies-in-place in these different regions. The aim of these case studies is to highlight to the minerals processing and metals refining industries their potential role in a more sustainable global society.

Jan 1, 2003

By T. V. Chnyrenkova, J. Troncoso, V. A. Luganov, G. P. Kluev

"Arsenic-gold bearing ores are used as flux in smelting or are leached out with extraction of gold. For decreasing arsenic content in processed materials and for breaking up the lattice and opening up of gold the raw materials are roasted. Some regularity was established for sulfidizing of arsenic bearing compounds in a presence of pyrite and for oxidation of ores and concentrates in the presence of soda.This article analyses the results of laboratory and pilot testing of dissociating and oxidizing roasting of gold-arsenic bearing concentrates. During the dissociation roasting under vacuum arsenic is sublimated into elemental and sulfide forms. This process allows minimizing the negative influence on the environment but requires costly engineering solutions. Roasting in a limited quantity of oxygen in the gaseous phase makes it possible to sublimate arsenic in the form of oxides and sulfides and may be carried out in fluid bed furnaces."

Jan 1, 2003

By Ponisseril Somasundaran, H-L. Chen, University of Athens, D. R. Nagaraj, Zhonghua Pan, Jing Wang

Gums are often used as depressants for talceous gangue minerals in the flotation of nickel and platinum bearing ores. However, the mechanisms of gum adsorption on talc are not clearly established. In this work, adsorption of guar gum at the talc-solution interface is investigated using spectroscopic and allied techniques. Guar gum adsorption on talc is not affected significantly by changes in solution conditions such as pH and ionic strength. Electrokinetic studies showed that guar gum decreased the negative zeta potential of talc but did not reverse the charge. Fluorescence spectroscopy studies conducted to investigate the role of hydrophobic bonding using pyrene and dansyl probes showed no evidence of the formation of hydrophobic domains at talc-aqueous interface. Urea, a hydrogen bond breaker, reduced the adsorption of guar on talc to the same extent as that for guar/alumina system, in which hydrogen bond plays an important role. All of the above results suggest that one of the main driving forces for guar adsorption on talc is hydrogen bonding rather than electrostatic or hydrophobic force.

Jan 1, 2003

By D. Whittles, S. Kingman, K. Jackson, S. Bradshaw, N. Miles

The influence of microwave energy at high electric field strength on ore strength has been investigated. Two ores of varying mineralogy were treated in both multimode and single mode microwave cavities. After treatment, any change in strength relative to untreated ore was established. It was shown that in the multimode cavity reduction in strength was related to the applied power level. Results of tests carried out in the single mode cavities showed that, for both ores, reductions in ore strength > 50% could be achieved in very short periods (<1 second). Thermal stress analysis showed that the mechanism of microwave induced failure was the development of tangential stresses at the grain boundaries. It was concluded that operation at 915 MHz with high power and short residence times gives feasible scale-up possibilities.

Jan 1, 2003

By P. K. Sen, Mrinal K. Ghose

Tailing slurry is usually abrasive and possesses high viscosity. This paper examines the existing iron ore beneficiation process and focuses on some of the key environmental issues related to the disposal of tailings. It identifies that almost 32% of the iron ore extracted ends up as tailings and they are usually disposed in slurry form in tailing ponds. By the year 2000, 27 Mt of iron ore tailings were generated in India, which has become one of the biggest waste handling problems to the industry. Characteristics of the tailings vary widely. So the physical nature of tailings cannot be considered separately in isolation without considering the mill effluent from the beneficiation plant. In the present investigation, studies were carried out in three iron ore mines in India to evaluate the characteristics of tailings from the beneficiation plant. The tailing samples were collected from different locations during a time period of one year and analyzed. The results will be discussed and the characteristics of the tailings have been evaluated. The disposal system of tailings at the three mines was evaluated. The research on the settling characteristics of tailings indicates that the area provided in the existing tailing ponds in India is much more than that of the experimental results. This paper concludes that sedimentation tests are essential to design appropriate tailings pond with respect to size. In the proposed scheme it is suggested that an additional unit process, i.e. sedimentation tank be added to the process before the disposal of tailings to the tailing pond.

Jan 1, 2003

"The Merensky Reef is a platinum group minerals (PGM) bearing reef in the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South Africa. The reef has been treated by bulk PGM and sulphide flotation with the aim of maximisingthe valuable minerals recovery and gangue minerals rejection.Synthetic water with a calcium concentration of 80 ppm and 500 ppm was prepared and the flotation results obtained were compared to a simple electrolyte in order to determine the effect water quality has on pentlandite and pyroxene surface alteration and, ultimately, floatability. During the study, the possible effect of interactions between the minerals investigated and Ca2+ ions in the presence of sodium isobutyl xanthate was studied at pH 6 and pH 9 by means of zeta potential determinations, microflotation tests and ToF-SIMS analysis.The results obtained on 1:1 pentlandite-pyroxene mixtures showed that the quality of process water plays an important role in flotation. The flotation recoveries of pentlandite and pyroxene were lower in synthetic process water compared to those obtained in a simple electrolyte solution."

Jan 1, 2003