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By Tohru Kamo, Shigeyuki Katano, Hideki Nakagome, Maiko Adachi, Shingo Nakamura, Kaneshi Taniguchi, Zar Zar Hlaing, Takaaki Wajima

Tantalum capacitor is a small-sized and has large capacity, and is indispensable for electric equipment. The demand increases year by year, and a quite large number of used tantalum capacitors is generated. Recovery of tantalum from tantalum condenser is recently important since production of tantalum have not been stable for the price and the quality. However, recovery of tantalum from tantalum-condenser is difficult since tantalum parts strongly cover with the flame retardant resin made of halogenated compound (mold resin). This research investigated recovery of tantalum parts from tantalum condenser using steam gasification with mixed molten carbonate. Mixed molten carbonate (Na2CO3:K2CO3:Li2CO3 = 1:1:1) (3 g) put into the reactor, and heated with electric furnace while flowing nitrogen (160 mL/min) and steam (1 mL/min) warmed by heater. After heating to setting temperature (450 - 650 oC), tantalum condenser (3 g) was put into the reactor, heated for 5-10 min, and then cooled to room temperature to recover the reacted capacitor by filtration after treating with distilled water. At relatively low temperature (550 oC) heating for 10 min, mold resin can be decomposed by using steam gasification with mixed molten carbonate, in comparison with using pyrolysis and steam gasification without carbonate, and decomposition reaction occurred over 500 oC by using steam gasification with mixed carbonate. Recovery of tantalum parts from capacitor is successful using steam gasification with mixed molten carbonate at 530 oC for 5 min, due to the effective decomposition and removal of mold resin from capacitor. Furthermore, most halogen gas generated from decomposition of mold resin can be trapped in molten carbonate not to exhaust halogen gas. These results suggested that recovery process of tantalum parts from used condenser using steam gasification with mixed molten carbonate is expected as a feasible way to recycle the rare metal in electric equipment.

Jan 1, 2014

By Lev O. Filippov, Inna V. Filippova

"Flotation of metal-organic precipitate in column is sensible to the hydrodynamic conditions determined by the diameter and dispersion of rising bubbles. Thus, the dissipation energy in the system resulting of ratio between superficial fluid velocities (gas and feed) in the column is main parameter for precipitate flotation in pilot or industrial scales. The knowledge of aggregate structure can lead to better understanding and control of many solid-liquid separation processes (sedimentation, filtration, thickening and flotation). Many authors highlight the importance of structural properties (i.e. floc density) for different industrial applications.This approach was applied to achieve the flotation of molybdenum precipitate obtained with organic collector a- benzoin oxime for molar ratio 1:2. Flotation tests were carried out at lab and pilot scale with rigorous control of the size distribution of bubbles and the values of dissipation energy in the systems.Structural evolution of Mo precipitate and the destruction phenomenon were described by using of the various fractal dimensions, which were deduced from experimental data of laser sizer devices and optic microscopy pictures of precipitate. The boundary fractal dimensions Df of large aggregates allows the detection of a structural scaled organisation of the precipitate flocs (elementary germs-microflocs-flocs). The fractal dimension of the particle mass distribution Dm=1.94+/-0.15 suggests, for the floc structure, a cluster-cluster aggregation process either with structuration or breakage phases.The destruction process characterised by a fractal dimension Dg controls the final size distribution. The floc destruction occurs for the lowest values of the dissipation energy (0.02 – 0.05 W/kg). The relation between Dg and the system dissipation energy Et (for various energy E dissipated in the agitation cell) involves the different breakage mechanisms of aggregates in function of the aggregation bonds (Fig. 1).Besides, the destruction of floc produces very fine particles (elementary germs or/and microfloc according to E), and thus induces the difficulties of bubble-particle attachment during the precipitate flotation in column. Yet, very small bubbles, which increase the collision probability, would make the flotation feed rate decrease. The optima ratio between superficial gas and feed velocities are determined for bubble size and flotation results control at pilot scale. Thus, it is possible to providing the catastrophically changes of precipitate column flotation by using the following established experimental relation: the mean diameter d of the flocs under the action of dissipated energy Et follows a power like law (d~Et -0.5). This allows estimating the size distribution of flocs for the E values which can appear in column."

Jan 1, 2003

By F. Molhem, S. Banisi, H. R. Montazari, E. Arghavani, Gh. R. Biniyaz, Gh. A. Parsapour

"Water plays a key role in mineral processing plants and to process one ton of ore 2.5 ton water is needed. Thickeners are commonly used for dewatering and recovering water in most processing plants. The underflow pulp density is increased by sedimentation of particles and clear water is recovered from the overflow. One of the issues related with using the process water is the presence of suspended fine particles in the clear overflow water which can create blockage in transfer pipes. The froth formed on top of thickeners is the main cause of this problem. In this study, a method to decrease the froth formed on the Sarcheshmeh Cu-Mo thickener surface was introduced and implemented. At the first stage, the old punched plate feedwell was removed and it was replaced by a vane type feedwell. A spray water ring using fish-tail type nozzles was then installed to break froth layers by water. These modifications led to 63% relative reduction in the water turbidity, 11% relative increase in the underflow solids concentration, 20% relative reduction in torque, 19% relative reduction in its standard deviation and an increase of 6% in water recovery.INTRODUCTION The Sarcheshmeh copper complex, the largest copper producer in Iran, located in southern Iran. In the processing plants of this complex, over 250,000 m3 of water is consumed daily. Because of a lack of water in this area and very low yearly rain fall (150 mm), water plays a vital role in the complex. As a result, it is then aimed at maximum water recovery by taking all necessary measures. The recycled water in order to be used should not contain any suspended solids indicated by low turbidity."

Jan 1, 2018

By Heinrich Hutchison, Thomas von Moltke, Roelof F. Sandenbergh, Katarina P. Cerovic

Although the cyanidation process for gold leaching has been applied for more than a hundred years, some aspects of it, such as the passivation of the gold and the depassivating action of heavy metals, are still not well understood. In this work the anodic behaviour and surface composition of gold in alkaline aqueous cyanide with lead additions were investigated using polarization experiments and XPS. It was found that lead in the solution activated the gold at low concentrations, somewhat more positive than the reversible potential for gold, but that the activity again decreased at higher concentrations of lead. The potential range for the activation of the gold coincides with that where underpotential deposition of lead occurs, i.e. –200 to –600 mV(SCE), as indicated by the surface composition of the gold, shown in figure 1. Note that the concentration of lead on the surface of the gold only increased with time in the bulk plating potential range for lead, where gold is not activated by the presence of lead. It is also shown that up to 20 mg/L of lead added to the solution will activate the gold, provided that bulk plating of the lead is avoided. It is also important to avoid reducing conditions during leaching, where bulk plating of lead may occur, if the gold is to be activated by lead to achieve a high leaching rate, as the bulk plated lead screens the surface rather than activating it.

Jan 1, 2003

By Grigory Voyloshnikov, Sergey Petrov, Vladimir Petrov

"The treatment of high-grade copper gold-bearing ores is practiced extensively. However, due to low concentration of copper the application of a separate process for copper recovery can make this process uneconomical. The copper, in particular: in oxide minerals, intensively bounds with cyanide during conventional cyanidation. In this case, cyanide is not able to react with precious metals and the consumption of cyanide increases. The resulting copper cyanide complexes have a negative effect on the recovery of gold. Due to decreasing of the process parameters, a repeated use of the recycled solutions can be hindered, especially in the case of heap leaching. The technology of copper removal from the process solutions with simultaneous regeneration of free cyanide from copper-cyanide complex and producing of a saleable high-grade copper concentrate was developed. An important feature of this technology is simplicity, the absence of complex or dangerous operations and the use of common reagents. The choice of equipment depends on the ore treatment option: heap or vat leaching. Also, simpler equipment schemes are available. The studies, tests and industrial practice show that if the concentration of copper can be decreased down to the first numbers of mg per ppm or lower, it is reasonable to maintain the process copper grade in the recycled solutions at 30-50 mg/L. In this case, recycling of cyanide-bearing solutions is unlimited. The regeneration of free cyanide from that of bound with copper and other cyanide complexes is 95-98%. The grade of copper in the concentrate is 55-60%. This technology is an economically competitive option, in particular: with the account of the sales of copper concentrate. The removal of copper has a positive effect on gold recovery, especially during heap leaching. In addition to, this offers significant benefits in reduced costs."

Jan 1, 2014

By P. Saha, D. M. Chakrabarti, National Metallurgical Laboratory, P. Bhattacharyya, B. R. Sarkhel

The estimated reserve of the phosphatic soils at the Sukulu hills region of Uganda upto a depth of 60 meters is of the order of 200 million tonnes and analyses 10-12% P2O5. A 5-tonne sample of the phosphatic soil was received at the National Metallurgical Laboratory (NML), India for beneficiation studies. The ore occurred as a naturally degraded soil deposit and the slime contained earthy lateritic minerals which made it extremely sticky. Microscopic examination revealed the presence of limonite, magnetite (martitised), hematite and goethite as major minerals along with apatite and quartz. Presence of clay was indicated by earthy smell on moistening the sample. It was observed that getting rid of the slime was as important for adequate beneficiation of the ore, as it was difficult. Earlier studies on samples of the same ore at the NML and abroad established that it was necessary to pass the ore through a series of three stages of desliming, each consisting of a step of rigorous attrition scrubbing followed by hydrocycloning, for effective elimination of the sticky slimy coating which stubbornly adhered to mineral grains. Studies were carried out at the NML in two phases to develop a flowsheet for beneficiation of the phosphatic soil. In the first phase, reproducibility of the results obtained by employing a flowsheet developed abroad was confirmed along with suggesting some modifications of the flowsheet. Then 200 kg. of concentrate was produced following the recommended flowsheet for evaluation of its suitability for production of fertilisers. To remove the limonitic slimy coating, which stubbornly adheres to the other mineral grains, it was necessary to subject the ROM ore, after screening out the +840 micron size fraction which contained only 1.75% P2O5 , to three stages of hydrocycloning each preceded by attrition scrubbing. Then only conventional beneficiation techniques could be effectively employed to upgrade the ore.

Jan 1, 2003

By Anatoly N. Vinogradov, Vyacheslav A. Tsukerman

The North-West Russia for 70 years is one the main producers of Cu, Ni, Co, Al, P, REE, Zr, Ti, Ta, Nb, Fe ores and other minerals in the Europe. The largest mining companies locates in the Murmansk region, and they extracts about 100 mln. tons of ores and damps up to 250 mln. tons of waste annually. Nevertheless an environmental situation in the region is stable due to rational management and treatment of wastes on a base of the Noosphere Concept for Nature-using suggested by Vladimir Vernadsky. The Concept was performed practically in the Fersman’ scheme of “non-waste mining and metallurgical complex”, published in the monograph “Minerals of the Kola Peninsula: current status – analyses – prognoses” (1941) and served till now as a sort of “Bible” for industry managers lightening a strategy for an industrial “trophic chain”. The recent status of this scheme is shown on the picture below, and one can see that our concept is coincide with modern ideology known as the “Industrial Ecology”. Moving along this mainstream in the Kola Peninsula since 1929, when the first mining company “Apatit” was established, we provided the water close circuit in mineral dressing plants, hydrometallurgical treatment of slag and tailings, productions of building materials and adsorbents of wastes. The innovation set of technologies designed by the Kola Science Centre allow recently to involve tailing damps in re-exploitation as the technogenic deposits of valuable raw materials for fertilizers, tanning and cleaning agents, pigments, concretes and etc.

Jan 1, 2003

By R. Shiva Kumar, G. Sreedhar, S. Sharma

Some of the Indian origin iron ore deposits located in Bellary, Karnataka province are having peculiar characteristics of Iron ore deposits (Hematite) having Iron above 64% and 30-40% lump (-30+6mm) recovery which are not suitable to use in blast furnace due to not meeting the specification of Tumbler Index and Abrasion Index. In general for high grade Iron ores, process flow sheet involves crushing and screening (dry/wet). In the contest of high grade Iron ores located at Bellary sector of Karnataka state in India, lump generated from this process could not attain the required physical properties (Tumbler Index, Abrasion Index) and metallurgical properties , even though the grade of the lump ore is above 64% Fe. Washing techniques like Drum scrubber and Log washer play major role in improving the metallurgical properties of Iron ore lumps by removing the light and hard layers of clay, silica coated over the lumps. In this study the effects were compared of drum scrubbing and log washing on iron ore lumps. It is found that by incorporating simple washing technique i.e. drum scrubbing or log washing, Tumbler Index of Iron ore Lumps could be increased from 74% to 78% which is acceptable for use in Blast furnace. From the Drum scrubber and Log washer tests, it is clear that Log washers have an edge over Drum scrubber in removing hard coated clay on surface of Lumps. This simple washing technique facilitate us to utilize the lumps directly in blast furnace and eliminate the unnecessary crushing and grinding of the ore so as to meet the specifications of Sinter fines and pellet feed.

Jan 1, 2014

By Andrei Kolesnikov

"The results of CFD modelling of complex heat transfer and fluid flow in DC electric arc furnace are presented. The model includes energy and momentum conservation equations for gas phase (freeboard), liquid phase (molten bath) and solid phase (walls and graphite electrode). Simulation revealed the temperature distribution in all elements of the furnace. The influence of the arc and melt resistance on the temperature distribution is discussed.Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) becomes a powerful tool for better understanding of the heta and mass transfer processes in industrial equipment. In current work commercial CFD software STAR-CD was used to analyse complex heat transfer in DC EAF, including forced and natural convection, conduction and radiation. The finite volume solver using body-fitted grid was used. The grids are non-staggered hexahedral grids and all variables are evaluated at cell centers. Steady-state calculations were performed with PISO algorithm. For the convective terms in equations the hybrid differencing scheme was used. An upwind differencing scheme was used for other terms. Conjugative heat transfer was taken into account in heat transfer calculations on gas-liquid and gas-solid interfaces. Radiation from the arc and inner surfaces of the furnace was calculated by a “discrete beam” approach. Source term in energy conservation equation was used to represent heat release in the zone occupied by the DC electric arc. The volume of this zone was calculated from semi-empirical equations. The Joule heat and heat due to chemical reaction in the melt were calculated through the source term expression in the energy balance equations for the slag and metal in the molten bath. The gas acceleration in the electric arc zone and stirring of the slag due to gas bubbles motion were accounted for by momentum source terms in the momentum conservation equations.All simulations were carried out using axisymmetric two-dimensional grid. The grid resolution was 20 cm per cell in most part of the furnace, except the arc region, where resolution was 5 mm per cell."

Jan 1, 2003

By R. Imhof, S. E. Sánchez-Pino, H. Sprenger, S. A. Sánchez-Baquedano

"In 1992, Ingeniería de Minerales started with the introduction of pneumatic flotation technology in Chile and South America. This technology consists of vertical cells and gyratory cells, used mainly under actual operational conditions, with pilot units directly installed in the concentrator circuits of the industrial process. Successful industrial applications have been observed at Los Pelambres, in the molybdenum plant; at Codelco Andina in the molybdenum plant as pre-rougher to produce directly a final concentrate; in the copper circuit at Las Luces as pre-rougher producing final concentrate using sea water; at Minera Valle Aconcagua where a full automatic plant produces pre-concentrate from fresh tailings as feed; at the silica and silicate reverse flotation circuit of Compañía Minera del Pacífico; in cleaning the final concentrate of Zn by reverse flotation removing ultrafine carbonate; and in a plant that reprocesses fresh tailings from a copper slag flotation process. Positive operational changes in the design of the flotation circuit have been seen in plants using G-cells and V-cells, improving the performance of flotation circuits and the quality of final products. The high concentration of bubbles and micro turbulence produced by the pneumatic aeration units provide a high probability of collision and attachment, reducing dramatically the residence time. Though it is a pneumatic flotation, no compressed air is needed, and the equipment is characterized by low maintenance costs, full automation, savings in investment and energy."

Jan 1, 2014

By Fu Ping-Hao, J-P Franzidis, Sergio Mauricio Vianna, Ewen Silvester, Emmy V. Manlapig

"Over the last 5 years, an ambitious project has been undertaken at the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC) aiming to isolate, study and, if possible, model the effect of particle size, liberation and collector adsorption density on the floatability of mineral particles. As part of this project, we have conducted highly controlled flotation test-work, combined with state-of-the-art solution and surface analytical techniques such as High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS) and detailed mineralogical analysis to fully characterize the flotation behavior of a natural ore.The flotation tests were undertaken using a high-grade lead-zinc ore from BHP-Billiton's Cannington mine (Australia) in a specially designed continuously operated laboratory scale flotation rig. Solution and adsorbed collector concentrations were measured independently during the course of the flotation tests using HPLC based ex-situ techniques. Liberation studies were performed using the JKMRC Mineral Liberation Analyser (MLA) on selected size intervals of different streams to estimate the specific surface area of galena. These results were used to calculate the collector adsorption density (collector coverage) on galena particles, with the eventual aim of developing a mathematical model describing the relationship between pulp chemistry, feed mineralogy, and floatability of galena particles."

Jan 1, 2003

By Susanna A. C. Stadler, Chris Aldrich, Jacques J. Eksteen

"Slag foaming occurs in several pyrometallurgical processes. These processes include steelmaking in basic oxygen steelmaking furnaces and electric arc furnaces as well as various non-ferrous operations like sulphide smelting/converting and base metal slag cleaning. Although slag foaming in steelmaking processes has been extensively researched, little attention has been given to slag foaming in non-ferrous operations. Slag foaming phenomena are complex because often the system consists of three or more phases. With this in mind, factors previously identified as influencing slag foaming were investigated. These include the slag basicity, physical properties of the slag, namely viscosity, surface tension and density, the formation of particles due to undercooling of the slag and the FexO concentration in the slag.Slag foaming was investigated in a vertical tube furnace. The different slags were contained in alumina crucibles and bubbling argon gas through the molten slag induced foaming. The foam height was measured by using stainless steel probes and a voltmeter. The conductivity of the slags made it possible to measure the foam height from the position of the probes when the electrical circuit was completed. Slags were foamed at different temperatures to investigate the effect of solid precipitates.The effect of increasing FexO concentration was found to decrease the foam index due to lower viscosities, but higher surface tension depression appears to have led to increased foam index values at high FexO concentrations."

Jan 1, 2003

By Rodolfo Silva, Antonio Peres, Afonso Martins, Gilberto Ramalho, Mario Cabello

The consumption of aggregates in civil construction has increased considerably in Brazil for the last years. The extraction of sand and gravel generates significant environmental impacts. As the quarries and sand deposits are getting exhausted near the big cities, the price of aggregates is increasing. Meanwhile, the extraction of quartzite (dimensional stone) in the state of Minas Gerais has been done mostly in small quarries, with very low recovery, generating approximately six million tons of wastes a year, which causes pollution, increases final prices of products, decreases the life time of quarries and ends up in the closure of enterprises. The government agencies and the quarries’ owners understand that only by finding applications to wastes there will be development to the sector. The aim of this investigation was to study the application to the quartzite wastes as aggregate in the civil construction. Samples of quartzite wastes collected in a quarry were characterized by petrographic analyses. Laboratory tests of crushing and grinding were done to analyze the viability of reducing the size of coarse material to a finer one to be used as raw material in industrialized mortars and concrete pre-molded components.

Jan 1, 2014

By P. A. Harvey

Previous studies have reported that inorganic electrolytes can enhance floatability of coal. The research has shown that the enhancement, if any, is highly dependent on changes in solution pH, type of electrolyte, and electrolyte concentration. The reasons for this are still not clear. In this study the floatability of coal particles in mono and divalent salt solutions was investigated. The zeta potential and hydrophobicity of the coal was measured experimentally, and a modified Hallimond tube was used to determine the floatability of coal particles by single bubbles, where the collision efficiency was equal to unity. The experimental information was used in conjunction with the Hogg-Healy-Fuerstenau equation to quantify the electrical double layer interaction. It was found that for low electrolyte concentration (less than 0.1 M) solutions the flotation recovery of coal particles was less than that for distilled water, and decreased with increase in concentration. Conversely, at electrolyte concentrations above 0.1 M, flotation recovery increased with increasing concentration (Figure 1). Both of these results are consistent with previous observations, but are inconsistent with expectations when considering the possible influence of electrical double layer interaction. Modelling of the system indicates that the electrical double layer is compressed with increasing electrolyte concentration, resulting in an increase in flotation recovery due to a diminishing of the (electrical double layer) repulsion between the bubble and the coal particles. Moreover, for electrolyte concentrations above about 0.1 M the electrical double layer is completely depressed and would have little further influence, if any, on the flotation process. Therefore, the electrical double layer interaction is not the principal determining factor for the flotation of coal in electrolyte solutions.

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 R. ?. Sherembayeva, ?. ?. ?uktybayeva, ?. B. Rakhimbekova, N. ?. ?m?rova

"Studying the interaction of the phosphorus-containing flotation reagent with the components of the flotation system ""liquid-gas-solid"" during flotation of non-ferrous metal ores allows regulating the enrichment process. The phosphorus-containing reagent-collector anabasinium-O,O-dimethyl-thiophosphate has beensynthesized under laboratory conditions and the concentrated aqueous solution of anabasin hydrochloride and the 40% solution of sodium hydroxide have been used as the raw material. The phosphorus-containing reagent has been obtained by interaction of the anabasine base, sulfur and dimethyl phosphite, due to sulfur and nitrogen atoms it can form complex compounds with heavy metal ions.Studying flotation of copper-sulfide ore of the Sayak field with the use of the phosphorus-containing reagent-collector anabasinium has been performed in the open and closed cycles. The degree of ore grinding was 60- 62% of the class -0.074 mm. There has been established the dependence of the ore flotation parameters on: a) pH of the pulp; b) the consumption of the reagent-collector anabasinium.The effect of the pulp pH on the technological parameters of copper ore flotation has been carried out with a reagent regulator that increases the difference in the surface properties of the minerals to be separated.There has been used lime as the regulator of the medium, the consumption of which varied from 750 to 1500 g/t; the consumption of the reagent-collector anabasinium was 10, 15, 20 and 25 g/t.It has been found that when flotation of copper ore without the use of lime at pH equal to 7.8 and at the reagent consumption, g/t: anabasinium - 25, T-92 - 55, copper recovery in the concentrate is 92.72%, the quality of concentrate is 7, 1%.In flotation according to the factory mode (the consumption of xanthate is 44 g/t, T-92 is 55 g/t, pH = 7.8 (without lime)) of copper ore, copper recovery in the concentrate is 87.38%, the concentrate quality is 7, 97%, with reducing the xanthate consumption to 25 g/t copper recovery is reduced to 83.39%, the quality of the concentrate is up to 6.69%.In the experiments using the factory reagent mode in the closed cycle, with the xanthate mass consumption of 44 g/t, T-92 blowing agent of 55 g/t, the third recleaning concentrate contained 19.13% copper with recovery of 86.89%.Using a phosphorus-containing reagent instead of xanthate with the same flow rate, the third recleaning concentrate with the mass fraction of copper of 19.82% has beenobtained with recovery of 87.77%."

Jan 1, 2018

By Nicolás Caussade

"The IMPC 2014 slogan "Optimizing Water and Energy Usage for Sustainable Mining" refers to the ever decreasing availability of fresh water and energy, which has turned out to be a crucial aspect in assuring the competitiveness of the mining sector in Chile and the Andes region in general. The concern for sustainability and the supply of water and energy is nowadays part of the top priorities of mining countries and communities. This is also the case for Antofagasta Minerals. Several years ago its mining group implemented an energy policy based on intelligent, strategic and sustainable management, in order to successfully face the challenges imposed by the market. It is called an intelligent policy because it intends to provide energy through a diversified range of sources, which includes the development of in-house alternatives. It is also a policy focused on efficient energy consumption and one that is strategic. Because it is in line with the characteristics of the mining activity, it is developed for the long term. Finally, what makes the policy sustainable is that it gives priority to energy usage from renewable resources and as such, the required capacities have been developed to generate innovative solutions that respond to the restrictions that characterize the industry today."

Jan 1, 2014

By Chen Zhiqiang, Luo Chuansheng, Chen Ziqiang, Liu Jianguo, Rao Jinshan

To comprehensively utilize the valuable resource in tailings, increase the economic benefit of mine, reduce the amount of tailings, prolong the service life of tailing dam, the comprehensive utilization of tailing resource is arousing the attention of more and more mines. Research of comprehensive recovery of feldspar and silica from Cu-Mo floatation tailings has been furthered. Technology of "De-sliming-Magnetic Separation-Reverse Flotation-Feldspar and Silica Separation" has been developed to utilize the resource. Slime is removed and reagents cost is reduced by de-sliming. The specific effective collector ZL is used in gangues reverse flotation, and GZ-818 is the collector in feldspar and silica separation. The grinding operation is vital to ensure the liberation degree of feldspar and to eliminate the reagents pollution on minerals surface. To a Cu-Mo flotation tailing assaying K2O 5.22%, Na2O 2.22%, Fe2O3 1.95%, Al2O3 12.05%, SiO270.66%, superfine K-feldspar and silica concentrates can be produced. The feldspar concentrate productivity is 29.67% assaying K2O 8.99%, Na2O 2.86%, Fe2O3 0.16%, Al2O3 16.99% and SiO2 68.92%. The silica concentrate productivity is 14.20% assaying 0.17% K2O, 0.04% Na2O, 0.01% Fe2O3, 0.55% Al2O3 and 98.17% SiO2. The technology provides technological reference model for the similar mines.

Jan 1, 2014

By Victor Avdokhin, Valery Morozov, Valery Stolyarov

"The adaptation-determination method provides for keeping given relationship between concentrations of ionic and molecular components of a pulp liquid and correction of parameter of the model on the basis of analysis of ore composition, technological parameters of flotation, and cost of valuable components.• optimisation program “ADDEFLOT” and combined analyzer of pulp “RA-931”An adaptation-determination method provides for two-level control of bulk and selective flotation of polymetallic ores. The lower level provides for control of reagent dosing on the base of control of ionic composition parameters in the pulp liquid phase. The control goal is to keep the basis relationship among parameters of ionic composition (ions A, B, C) in pulp liquid phase given by equations of type:• alg[A] + blg[B] + clg[C] = K (1)Values of a,b,c coefficients are uniquely determined by a physico-chemical model used. Kind of the model depends on mineral composition of an ore and reagent regime applied. As parameter of ionic composition, also values of one or two parameters (or their combinations) can be used, for instance, pH, concentration of sulfide ions, ions of collector.The upper level of control is based on calculation and use of technological results of selective flotation. At the level, an adaptation of the model (1) is conducted. A principle of the adaptation is in determining (and including in pre-setting function of the lower level) such value of K parameter, at which maximal economic effectiveness of the process is reached. As a criterion of economic effectiveness of the process, a function of losses of several valuable components, taking into account cost of the metals lost, is used. For 2-component ore, in simplified form, the function is as follows:"

Jan 1, 2003

By P. M. Solozhenkin, V. P. Nebera, V. D. Skorohodov

"Aqueous dispersions of air specifically prepared on the basis of flotation reagent solution acquire active properties in relation to the solid surface and may be imply as a medium for flotation ores. Such aerated solutions were defined as Activated Aqueous Dispersions of Air (AADA) with 5-6:1 ratio and the procedure of mineral separation was defined as a flotation process under non-equilibrium conditions. These procedures differ from conventional flotation mainly in reagent interaction with minerals through their adsorption films on gas bubbles simultaneously forming flotation complexes. Gas-liquid mixture is kept till an adsorption layer of reagents close to the limit value is formed on the surface of bubbles. The theoretical basis of AADA is considered.The results of two-phase gas- liquid mixture (AADA) were studied. Two versions of AADA were considered. Electrical surface potential of the air bubbles with the surfactant film, untreated minerals particles in Coulomb attraction and flotation complex formation were analyzed. Special flotation machines were constructed for separation of mineral suspension in air dispersion, whose effectiveness was confirmed in flotation of apatite waste of Kovdor ore. FK-9 machine introduced on Kovdor iron ore combine for the recovery of apatite from current departures of factory. The froth product contained 7.2 % P2O5, with recovery of 44 % apatite, which was processed for getting melted phosphoric-magnesium fertilizers."

Jan 1, 2003