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By Gülay Bulut, Mustafa Özer, Yunus Emre Benkli, Olgaç Kangal, Istanbul Technical University, Mustafa Tarkan

"Zeolites are naturally occurring as hydrated aluminosilicate minerals. They belong to the class of minerals known as “tectosilicates” and are related to the common minerals feldspar and quartz. Seven natural zeolites that occur in large, commercially exploitable deposits, are: clinoptilolite, chabazite, mordenite, phillipsite, erionite, analcite, and ferrierite. Among them, clinoptilolite is the most abundant one and is not the best known, but is one of the more useful natural zeolite. Clinoptilolite [(Na3K3) (Al6Si30O72) 24 H2O] is very closely related to heulandite and is currently being considered for disuse it self as it may just be a variety of heulandite. It differs from heulandite significantly only in its enrichment in potassium and slightly more silica and it is argued that a separate mineral is not needed.There are large zeolite deposits in western part of Turkey. The sample used in this study was taken from the Gördes region of these deposits. Screen, chemical, XRD and mineralogical analyses were used to determine properties of the natural zeolite sample used in this work.According to the size distribution of the sample, it is found that the zeolite sample used in this study is below 1 mm in size and almost 80% of it is below 0.5 mm. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and mineralogical analyses show that the natural zeolite is found to be in the forms of clinoptilolite and heulandite. Clinoptilolite forms as a devitrification product of volcanic glass in tuffs. Quartz, clay minerals, orthoclase, plagioclase, biotite, seruzite-muskovite and epidote were observed as impurities. XRD analysis also shows that the sample contains approximately 58-60% clinoptilolite, 5% quartz, 5% feldspar, 10% smectite, 5- 10% illite and mica and remaining volcanic tuffs. Several types of mineral processing methods were performed in order to remove impurities from the natural zeolite sample to produce high purity zeolite. Gravity separation methods such as shaking table and superpanner were carried out for separating heavy minerals, while high intensity dry magnetic separation was used for discarding magnetic minerals."

Jan 1, 2003

By A. Güney, G. Önal

"The tailings of the Bigadiç Colemanite Concentrator at the West of Turkey which contain 18 % B2O3 and 1.57 % SO3 are collected at the tailing dams near the Concentrator. In this research, it was aimed to obtain colemanite concentrates with a minimum content of 40 % B2O3 and a maximum 0.5 % SO3 from the tailings. At the experimental studies, decrepitation methods were systematically applied following attrition scrubbing and sizing. At the end of the tests, the best decrepitation result were described, at 500oC temperature for 15 min. duration, the final concentrate having 57.84 % B2O3, 0.44 % SO3 with 73 % recovery was obtained.Boron ores reserves of Turkey are about 2.5 billion tons and Turkey has the 63% share of the World’s boron reserves. The boron reserves are located at Eskisehir (Kirka), Kutahya (Emet), Balikesir (Bigadic) and Bursa (Kestelek) districts in Western Turkey. In 2002, the total amount of boron production of Turkey was about 1.4 million tons, which is 40 % of the World boron production.Bigadiç colemanite (Ca2B6O11. 5 H2O) ore with a content of 30-31 %B2O3 are concentrated by attrition tumbling and classification process. So the final concentrates with contents of 40 and 42 % B2O3 are obtained at the size fractions of –125+25mm and –25+ 3 mm respectively. The tailings materials with an 18 % B2O3 content are collected at the tailing dams near the Concentrator. In this research, it was aimed to obtain colemanite concentrates with a minimum content of 40 % B2O3 and a maximum 0.5 % SO3 from Bigadic tailings having 18 % B2O3 and 1.57 % SO3.In experimental tests, attrition scrubbing, wet sieving, gravity separation, electrostatic separation, flotation and decrepitation were adopted to the colemanite tailings, and optimum beneficiation conditions were obtained."

Jan 1, 2003

By Stefan Mutz, Thomas Pretz, Jörg Julius, Frank Hilbk-Kortenbruck, Aachen, Hartmut Harbeck

"The annual global production of primary aluminium was about 22 million tons in the year 2000. This represents the second largest production rate in the world market after steel. Experts are predicting that the global demand for aluminium will rise in the near future.In contrast to other metals such as copper, the recycling of aluminium is considered relatively difficult. There are two main alloying groups, namely cast and wrought. In the case of aluminium it is important that the constituents within the scrap aluminium to be smelted are clearly identified. Within the secondary remelting process alloying does take place, but a removal of unwanted metal constituents is problematic. Therefore mixed aluminium scrap (not genuine in-house collected material) can only be used to produce cast aluminium. Thus, in other words a down-cycling of wrought (extrusions and rolled) products occurs. However, in spite of these difficulties there is an increasing trend to produce aluminium from secondary scrap (approx. 35% in Germany). Similar trends have been identified in the USA and other industrialised countries. This development is mainly caused by the high energy consumption for the production of aluminium from bauxite. Producing aluminium from scrap is saving about 95 % of the energy in comparison to the processing of primary raw materials.An improvement in sorting technology is necessary to separate wrought and cast alloys of aluminium as the absolute amount of recovery from old scrap is higher than the demand for cast.This contribution presents some alternative methods, utilizing automatic picking technologies, which will be used to separate secondary aluminium in the future. During the recent years, some major progresses have been made in automatic picking technologies for different applications in the processing of primary and secondary materials.For the sorting of aluminium scrap a special additional sensor will be necessary. The best detection will ultimately be based on online elemental analysis of single particles. First investigations in the field of laser based systems for these applications have already been performed several years ago. One of the laser based techniques is the laserinduced breakdown spectrometry (LIBS)."

Jan 1, 2003

By David I. Verrelli, Boris Albijanic

"Froth flotation is an exceedingly complex physicochemical process. The convenience of distilling much of the complexity of the bubble-particle interactions into a single parameter has led to the continuing popularity of the classical ‘induction time’ to quantify the threshold for bubble-particle attachment to occur. Despite this popularity and the simplicity of the concept, there is no single universal method of evaluating the induction period. In this paper, we begin with a critical review of the available techniques for estimating the induction period. These are: back-calculation from experimental (micro) flotation tests; pushing a particle toward a stationary bubble (or vice versa) using an atomic force microscope (AFM); pushing a bubble toward a stationary bed of particles in the ‘Induction Timer’; pushing a bubble toward a stationary solid surface using the ‘integrated thin film drainage apparatus’ (ITFDA); and dropping particles onto a submerged stationary bubble using the ‘Milli-Timer’ device. Each one of these methods has advantages and disadvantages, and the best choice depends on the application. In the experimental section, we present quantitative comparison of the induction periods estimated using two different techniques, namely the Induction Timer and the Milli-Timer. The same particles were tested in each device, under the same conditions. It was found that by tuning the operation of the particle pick-up device, similar estimates of induction period could be obtained to the estimates made by direct observation with the Milli-Timer. In the former device a bubble is driven toward a particle bed at a controlled rate, whereas in the latter a particle’s motion is governed by the hydrodynamics. The potential to match these presents an intriguing prospect for better understanding the bubble-particle interaction, and the possibility to ‘calibrate’ the simpler Induction Timer against direct observations."

Jan 1, 2014

By Vladimir Grujic, Milorad Grujic, Ivan Djurkovic, William Riggs

"In this paper, we have studied efficiency of different chemical structures of frothers on copper ore Majdanpek. The goal was to find out the best suitable chemical structure, which allows good bubble formation, size and interaction, forces on mineral surface. The particle size distribution was between 10 and 100 µm. Our research was oriented on three groups of frothers: alcohols, poly glycol ethers and poly glycols.We also used different collectors based on similar or less similar alcohol group in chemical structure as in frothers, expecting higher stability of air bubble in contact with copper minerals. Minimal potential energy was determinate in the hydrodynamic conditions for different particle sizes. It was founded that it is proportional to air bubble volume on 0.88° and contra proportional to the kinematics viscosity of pulp.Analyzing the results, we find out that poly glycols decreased surface tension the most. Also, it increased amount of coarser particles to the top of pulp. This group is less sensitive to pH value compared to the others too.From the class of frothers with higher efficiency in flotation process, we pointed OrePrep X-75 and X-133 as frothers with expressive frothing characteristic in the alkaline and low alkaline circuits. Special suitability of those frothers for floating copper minerals makes their hetero polar molecules with more than one hydrocarbon radicals connected to one polar group. However, those froters have no nether high or low solubility and are non-ionization. Those froters indicate some small collecting characteristics too. In dispersion systems, those two frothers make two types of bubbles: smaller di < 1.2 mm; V = 0.0008 cm3 and middle di < 16 mm; V = 2.2 cm3 (di – Bubble diameter, V – Bubble volume). Transportation speed of air bubbles it is possible to calculate based on equation: ?s = 27.5 * di 1.4 cm/s. Distribution of free surfaces for chalcopyrite is average 80% in the class –74µm +10µm and 20% in the class -10µm. If we get all class sizes, we find that recovery (R) depends from the time by equation:"

Jan 1, 2003

By Nicolus Rotich, Ritva Tuunila, Louhi-Kultanen. Marjatta

Most minerals, their ores, and gangue require sorting in order to maximize the recovery of the primary product during concentration. Gravity separation though old, is not obsolete and is continually playing an important role in mineral processing and many other industries, especially where plant energy efficiency is of concern. Screen designs e.g. material of construction, deck angle of inclination, the feed throughput, and physical as well as chemical properties of the particles, are critical factors to consider when using gravity for solid separation. Solids loading and screen geometry are significant, and easily manipulated operational parameters that affect both the screening rate and efficiency to a large extent. In this paper we applied nonlinear least squares optimization technique, and response surface methodology first, to assess the significance of the two factors, and secondly to select the best mathematical models that optimize both capacity and efficiency of the screening process. Initial experiments and confirmation tests were conducted on a prototype screen of 846.51cm2 effective area, (2100 cm2 total area). For glass beads of sizes 0.75-3mm, with feed loads of 10g up to 160g, and inclination angles from 5-20o, a maximum efficiency of 66.7%, and a screening rate of 22g/s was achieved with a screen loading of 86.5g, and an inclination angle of 12.43o. These results were then subjected to nonlinear least squares optimization, in which afterwards an optimum theoretical efficiency of 72% and screening rate of 31.2g/s were achieved at a loading of up to 104g. There was excellent performance at angles 12.5=?=17.5, but poor at the angles outside this range. The screening efficiency did not seem to respond significantly to changes in screen loading. Confirmation tests conducted at selected optimum parameters achieved an efficiency of 72.1% (at 17.5o with 88g load), and a rate of 27g/s at 16.5o with 104g.

Jan 1, 2014

By Sudhir Srivastava

India hosts a wide range of globally significant mineral resources, including four fuel minerals; 11 metallic minerals; 22 minor minerals and 52 non-metallic minerals. The country ranks among world?s top five nations for its commodity reserves of coal and iron ore. Interestingly, only small part of country&apos;s landmass has been explored that provides opportunity for future substantial mineral discoveries. India plans to double infrastructure investments to US$ 1trillion. Despite the challenges in infrastructure project implementation, mining sector remains a key driver of demand growth for commodities in the years to come with a good prospect to grow in future.

Sep 1, 2012

By C. B. Yu

The ore comprise of chalcopyrite, valleriite, pyrite, pyrrhotite and so on. Serpentine and talc are chief gangues. Copper phase of the tail shows that mostly valleriite be losed in tail, 70% mineral of copper is valleriite in tail, so severity reduce the recovery of copper. The traditional flow-sheet in acidity mine pulp to flotat the valleriite, but copper-sulphur separated in high alkaline pulp, so the valleriite be losed else. Explores the characters of the valleriite?s surface, studys on the flow-sheet of flotat valleriite and copper-sulphur separated. In neutral mine pulp, adopt of cationic collector to flotat valleriite, adopt of hyposulphite to depressant pyrite in low alkaline pulp can advance the recovery of copper to 5.06%.

Jan 1, 2014

By H. G. Hedlund

Tailings in Mining Industry can be handled in different ways. Today tailings disposal is in focus by projecting new plants as well as treating and handling of old Tailings dams.The trend today is to process minerals, detoxify the Tailings and place them as dry surface Deposition or Underground Backfill. This paper will briefly present five different Mining plants in North and Central America, where Tailings have to be dewatered for dry depositing. The Metso-Sala VPA is a filter especially developed for dewatering and drying of Mineral Concentrate and Mineral Tailings. Keywords: tailings disposal, dewatering, drying, mineral tailings

Sep 1, 2012

By C. Çelik

Nowadays the optical sorting of industrial minerals is one of the most important processing methods which has cost efficient production possibilities. This method is used for industrial and raw materials that have different colour and brightness features. Initially this technology is used for sorting of foodstuffs and recovered glass, but for a long time also as physical mineral processing method for both industrial minerals like: limestone, marble, talc, basalt, flint, quartz and secondary raw materials like: building rubble, refractory materials, glass, plastic and household waste. In this study via optical sorting the separation of quartz out of a flint mix, which consists of the particles with different colors and brightness, is aimed. Experiments are performed on an optical sorting machine named CombiSense® 1200 at the institute of ?Aufbereitung mineralischer Rohs-toffe? RWTH Aachen. This automatic picking device was developed by the company ?Separation Systems Engineering (SSE), Wedel?. Hand picking method is used for product analysis and the efficiency tables are prepared on every step accordingly. This process enables to reach quartz products with purity up to 100%.

Jan 1, 2014

By Y. Y. Emelianov

The results of the test work of four treatment options of three refractory gold-pyrite and gold-arsenic flotation concentrates are presented. These concentrates were obtained during the concentration of primary ores of large gold deposits. It was found that ultrafine grinding of refractory flotation concentrates did not increase the recovery of gold during subsequent cyanidation. The elimination of sulfur and arsenic during oxidative roasting is 99 per cent. 88-93 per cent of gold is recovered by cyanidation from calcines. After biooxidation of the flotation concentrates with a mixture of strains Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans and Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans 88-91 per cent of gold is recoverable by direct cyanidation. The recovery of gold from flotation concentrates by pressure oxidation is 88-99 per cent. These results suggest that gold recovery is important but the following strategies would have an impact on a plant performance and would be considered when developing an option to treat refractory ores: capital and operating costs, ore reserves, mine location, infrastructure and qualified staff. Keywords: gold, flotation concentrates, recovery, cyanidation, roasting, biooxidation, pressure oxidation

Sep 1, 2012

By M. Kargar Razi

According to the unique properties and many applications of nano gold powder, it was prepared from an acid leaching tail solution. The low value residual gold ions were existed in acid leaching tail solution in Mouteh gold mine in Iran with fellow heavy metals as pollutants (FeP2+P, Cu P2+P, and ZnP2+P). Preparation of nano gold particles is achieved by two steps. First, by addition of ammonia as separation step and second using suitable reagents for precipitation/extraction step. Conditions control includes pH, residence time, temperature, agitation, and molar ratio of reducing agents to reagents. The optimum results show that nano gold powder was prepared by temperature of 250 °C, urea to gold molar ratio of 3:1, and reduction time of 20 min. Also, heat treatment improves dispersion of nano sized gold particles. The properties of gold nano powders were evaluated by SEM, A.A, and UV- Vis spectroscopy methods. The size of prepared particles were about 80nm to 90nm.

Jan 1, 2014

By Li Tianxia, Zhou Jing, Zhu Yimin

"A typical low-grade of high sulfur bauxite fr contains 54.71% Al2O3, 11.35% SiO2 while the ratio of aluminum and silicon was 4.25, and harmful components such as Fe and S graded 7.3% and 1.33% respectively. The ore is characterized by complex mineral compositions, fine dissemination of particle size of pyrite and diaspore, low desulfurization efficiency, and difficult separation of aluminum and silicon. In order to improve the degree of concentration, recovery and desulfurization efficiency on the basis of process mineralogy studies, the floatation behavior of high sulfur bauxite in the process of desulfurization and desilication were studied through laboratory tests and pilot plant tests. KEYWORDS high-sulfur bauxite; low grade; flotation; desulfurization;desilicication INTRODUCTION In order to solve the selection problem of bauxite mine area, we carried out technological mineralogy, laboratory test, small-expansion Dalian test to solve the problem of the refractory ore. Main research contents and conclusions were presented as followings :(1)Process mineralogy research shows: the main mineral components include diaspore, kaolinite, chlorite, pyrite, limonite. (2)Batch flotation tests indicated that slime can be dispersed well during desulfurization floatation when Na2CO3 was used as modifying agent. (3)Poilot plant tests shows that Batch flotation tests results are correct. 2?PROCESS MINERALOGY 2.1 Chemical Composition of Ore 2.1.1 Spectral Analysis of Sample The results of the semi-quantitative analysis of X-Ray -fluorescence spectra of the original ore are shown in Table 2-1. The results of spectral analysis show that the main components of the sample are O, Al, Si, followed by Fe, Mg, Ti, S and so on, while the content of other elements is very small. The value is Al, and maybe Ti, for bauxite, while Fe and S are unfavorable elements, and Si and Mg and Ca are the main impurity elements."

Jan 1, 2018

By Miguel Becerra, Daniel Jordán, Jorge Soto, Luis Torres

"Most SAG grinding operations currently use ball sizes between 5.5 and 6 inch maximum size. However, in most cases the use of this ball sizes hasn’t been justified by a phenomenological analysis of the real effect on the grinding process, but rather by trial and error. The analysis of the influence of ball sizes in SAG grinding hasn’t been developed in detail by considering the effect on process parameters inside the mill, grinding efficiency or internal classification. Historically a conventional grinding reference has been made on the empirical procedure developed by Azzaroni (1980). Further to Azzaroni’s methodology, Sepulveda (Sepúlveda, 2007) developed the SPEC methodology, incorporating the ball size effect on the grinding efficiency parameters using a population balance model included on Molycop tools spreadsheets.This paper demonstrates a detailed analysis at pilot scale of the ball size employed in SAG grinding and scaling that exists between the different levels. This analysis includes assessing the effect of balls sizes on parameters associated with grinding efficiency and its effect on the total fill level, product size distribution and specific energy consumption, among others. In a complementary way it develops a technical - economical evaluation from industrial data comparing two different ball sizes and its effect on the grinding process analysed integrally."

Jan 1, 2014

By C. H. Zhou

Cryogenic grinding of Printed Circuit Board will bring less pollution, reduce energy costs, smaller particles, regular particle size, efficient process, separation various materials due to different fracture toughness. Systemic studies of recycling discarded Printed Circuit Board (PCB) by low-temperature modification and cryogenic grinding have been made in this paper. Firstly test mechanical property of PCB at different low-temperature, including impact strength, flexural strength, and shear strength. Do experiment on the power consumption of different cooling temperature, The results show that the average power consumption is lower between -30? to -60? and the average power is decrease in evidence at -30?. Use ZKB type double roll shear crusher to crush PCB to 20mm×20mm particle size, in a temperature range of -10 ~ -30? Used R type mill to grind sample to minus 3mm under different working condition, the average power consumption is decrease in evidence from -10 ? to -30 ?, power consumption is the lest at rotational speed is 1180rpm.

Jan 1, 2014

By A. Kuriwada

Dolomite is a mineral, which consists of CaCO3 and MgCO3. In this work, a series of experiments were carried out in order to adsorb boron from a boron-containing solution using a calcinated dolomite sample, and then to desorb it from the loaded adsorbent. A particular modification on the surface of dolomite was observed when it was thermally treated at certain temperature, ranging from 750 oC to 1050 oC; in turn, it is the specific surface was increased. In other words, the experimental results suggested that the calcinated dolomite exhibited a high adsorption capacity for boron, indicating its effectiveness in effectively adsorbing boron from drinking water or wastewater.

Sep 1, 2012

By V. Panayotov

Flotation practice usually uses the Sheridan-Grizvold selection method, where zinc minerals are activated by addition of copper sulphate and depressed by addition of sodium cyanide, ferrous sulphate, zinc sulphate or various mixtures of these reagents. The method is suitable for the flotation of sulphide ores, which, do not bear precious metals, such as silver and gold. When classical technology with cyanide is applied to depress zinc minerals, the precious metals, which are contained mainly into lead minerals, are dissolved into the solution, which represents a technological loss. In order to avoid this process, we have made use from the knowledge on the semiconducting properties of lead and zinc sulphide minerals. We have changed the surface charge of minerals by means of an electrochemical impact realized by direct current application and specially designed set of insoluble or semi-soluble electrodes. Thus, flotation separation of lead and zinc sulphide minerals was achieved, at increased recovery of lead, zinc and silver. The technology proposed was implemented in a Bulgarian flotation factory; it worked over 5 years providing significant, positive economic, technological and environmental impact. Silver recovery was increased by 0.8-1.0 %, and lead and zinc recovery was increased by 0.8-1.0 %. The technology is easily controllable and adaptable to raw materials and parameters of the technological process. It can be paid back for 6-8 months after the implementation. Keywords: lead-zinc flotation separation, electrochemical impact

Sep 1, 2012

By V. Panayotov

Slag and by-products of metallurgy bear valuable components and their processing raises an in-creasing interest. Coke and iron have to be separated and other components have to be depressed, in order to obtain sellable high quality copper concentrates. Use of classical mineral processing technologies, such as magnetic separation, sulphidization, hydrometallurgy, etc. yields copper concentrates with grade of 4%~6% Cu. Copper is lost in tailings and the whole technological cycle is low profitable. Technology proposed applies an electrochemical treatment of the industrial water entering the flotation cycle. Iron and iron compounds that do not bear Cu, coke and gangue materials are depressed during the copper flotation. Copper concentrate of grade of 9.8%~10% Cu is obtained at simultaneous increase of Ag recovery by 8%~10%. As a result company profitableness is increased. Technology proposed is easy to implement, it does not require changes in the existing technology flow-sheet, and additional investment is low. The flotation process can be aided by a specially developed system for real-time analysis of the obtained copper concentrate which allows in-time corrections in the flotation parameters and entire process control. Applied flotation schemes, technological parameters and results obtained are described.

Jan 1, 2014

By In-Kuk Bae, Kwang-suk You, Joobeom Seo, Kwanghyun Bea, Hyung-Seok Kim

Arsenic in base metal sulfide ores is highly penalized owing to high costs for its control in metallurgical processing. The arsenic element in the lead-zinc ore, which is target ore in this study, has been shown to be in the form of arsenopyrite. Experimental work in this study is about arsenic rejection flotation, using depressant suitable for the removal of arsenopyrite from the Pb concentrate. The arsenic rejection flotation also included the oxidation treatment of Pb concentrate with H2O2. In this study, the Pb concentrates containing 80.7% Pb and 0.25% as was obtained with the additions of aluminosulfate as arsenic depressant. And through IR measurement, it was also known that the addition of aluminosulfate during arsenic rejection flotation formed calcium aluminosulfate hydrates on the surface of arsenopyrite particle, resulting in rendering arsenopyrite hydrophilic.

Jan 1, 2014

By Ashish Kumar

High grade ore deposits in the world are fast depleting and the valuables in the low-grade ores are finely disseminated. The feed grade to flotation circuit is also declining. Attainment of suitable grind is preferred, which inevitably creates more fines of the gangue minerals to interfere with the flotation process because of the undue competition between the fines and the valuables for the collector ion adsorption. Besides the use of polymeric or long chain hydrocarbon depressants for the gangue mineral, microbial induced flotation also has potential to float minerals selectively. Thiobacillus ferroxidans and Thiobacillus thiooxidans adhere on the minerals to modify its surface properties and affect the minerals flotation acting as depressants. Hindustan Zinc has conducted laboratory studies to understand the adhesion of microorganism on the mineral surfaces and its impact on the selective flotation. The experiments were further designed to reduce consumption of depressing reagents for graphitic carbon, pyrite, and galena. Preliminary studies reveal that desired quality of concentrate can be achieved with reasonable recovery. Keywords: thiobacillus thioxidans, thiobacillus ferroxidans, bioflotation, microbial induced flotation

Sep 1, 2012