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By Sergio Castro, Janusz Laskowski

In the flotation in highly concentrated electrolyte solutions not only ionic strength but also chemical composition, flotation pH and mineral properties play an important role. As a result an improvement or depression may be observed. A strong improvement in the floatability of hydrophobic bituminous coals and other inherently hydrophobic minerals is characteristic for the "salt flotation process", which is carried out in concentrated electrolyte solutions at natural pH and without addition of any flotation reagents. However, pH is a key factor when saline and hipersaline waters with hydrolyzing metallic ions are used as process water. In the case of flotation of Cu-Mo sulfide ores in seawater, molybdenite is strongly depressed by the Mg2+ hydrolysis products when pH is raised to depress pyrite. Process water with a high content of Mg2+ and Ca2+ ions, and this also includes seawater, have deleterious effect on the anionic flotation of industrial minerals with fatty acids. The flotation of potash ores is carried out in NaCl-KCl saturated brine (6-7 mole/L of NaCl and KCl) with the use of long-chain amines. Such a high electrolyte concentration changes dramatically the amine Krafft point making the collector insoluble in brine; its mode of action entirely differs from that in conventional flotation processes.

Jan 1, 2014

By X. L. Song

A large amount of tailings in concentrators bring a series of problems to the environment and society. It is significant to reclaim the huge tailings and reuse them in industries in order to utilize mineral resources adequately. Primarily Lead-Zinc tailings with a certain quality of clay and feldspar were used to produce ceramic tiles by sintering method under specific technical conditions. By testing the properties of the ceramic tiles, it was shown that the amount of Lead-Zinc tailing used in the tiles was 60%~70%, and the mechanics properties were good. The optimum proportion parameters were Lead-Zinc tailing 60%, clay 35%, feldspar 5%, and the maximum flexural strength of tiles was up to 38.2MPa when it was sintered at 1090? for 30min. Its flexural strength, water absorption and thermal shock resistance reached the State Standard of GB/T4100.4. The product is suitable to be used in pavements and paths of parks.

Jan 1, 2014

By W. Z. Zu

In proved reserves of vanadium-containing titanomagnetite in Panxi, China, iron grades of ores were 50% ~ 15%. China?s metallurgical industry departments defined the iron ores containing 50% ~ 20% TFe as exploitable resources and the extreme lean iron ores containing 20% ~ 15% TFe as temporary unexploitable resources, the extreme lean ores were as waste rejected into waste dump in mining process. This paper researched process mineralogy of the extreme lean ores, adopted mineral processing technology responded to the properties of the ores to treat the ores and obtained quality vanadium-iron concentrate, titanium concentrate and sulfur concentrate, therefore successfully utilized the extreme lean ores, changed the ores from waste resources to exploitable resources.

Jan 1, 2014

By Mohsen Hashemzadehfini

Nowadays heap leaching has become established as a mineral processing technology for treatment of some low grade minerals such as copper, gold, and zinc, etc. Heap height, particle size, leach reagent consumption, and metal recovery are four important metallurgical parameters in a hydrometallurgical process like heap leaching. This paper investigated the effects of heap height and particle size on copper recovery as well as acid consumption. Three heap heights of 2, 4 and 6 meters and two particle size fractions of less than 25.4 mm and 50.8 mm were selected as variables in the experiments. The research results showed the inverse relation between heap height and copper recovery as well as acid consumption. Under given conditions, the copper recoveries of minus 25.4 mm ore are 78.63%, 66.27% and 52.88% higher than that of minus 50.8 mm samples for the heap heights of 2, 4, and 6 m, respectively. Both copper recovery and acid consumption increase with decreasing particle size. Keywords: heap leaching, heap height, particle size, acid consumption

Sep 1, 2012

By Y. B. Zhang

China is rich in iron ore resources, but most of these ores are low-grade, polymetallic and refrac-tory ones. Furthermore, with the rapid development of chinese iron & steel industry, the comprehen-sive recovery of these ores is becoming more and more important. The tin, zinc-containing complex iron ores are typical polymetallic and intractable ones, and great reserves of them are found in China. At present, they have not been efficiently utilized. In this paper, based on the investigation of basic physicochemical properties of the tin, zinc-bearing iron concentrates, taken from a mineral processing plant, the mineralogy reason that these concentrates are so intractable and refractory is found out, using advanced microscopic testing methods, such as optical microscope (OM), Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM), X-ray diffrac-tion (XRD), etc. It is found that the symbiotic relationship of iron, tin and zinc metallic minerals are very complicated, and magnetite in the concentrate is closely symbiotic or enwrapped by fine cassi-terite and sphalerite. So it is difficult to separate tin and zinc completely from the iron concentrates by simple regrinding and physical separation method. This investigation provides theoretical guid-ance for developing new approaches for utilizing these concentrates.

Jan 1, 2014

By Gabriel Barrios, Juan Pérez-Prim, Marcelo Tavares

"The application of High Pressure grinding Rolls (HPGR) has been growing in the mining industry for the last 10 to 15 years. The major benefits generally supporting this trend are better energy efficiency, improved grinding capacity, less sensitivity to ore grindability variations and higher metal recovery in downstream processes such as heap leaching and flotation. The HPGR machine comprises a pair of counter-rotating rolls mounted in a sturdy frame. One roll is fixed in the frame, while the other is allowed to float on rails and is positioned using pneumohydraulic springs. The feed material is introduced in the gap between the rolls and is crushed by the mechanism of interparticle breakage. Comminution performance is largely determined by the pressure exerted on the bed of particles by the floating roll hydraulic system. The operating bed pressure depends on the hydraulic system start-up parameters and the loading response of the feed material. The work describes how the coupling of the multi-body dynamic simulation with Discrete Element Method in which particle breakage is described using the particle replacement method, can be effectively used to predict the performance of the HPGR. The model considers important variables as the HPGR rolls geometry and design, the hydraulic spring system start-up parameters and the material loading response, to describe operational key outputs as material throughput, operating gap and roller pressure distribution. The preliminary version of the model has been used to predict the effect of material properties on the operating gap and the load distribution on the surface of the rolls, demonstrating that it can describe qualitatively the HPGR operation, indicating that the model will be a power full tool for the simulation and selection of industrial HPGR units."

Jan 1, 2014

By W. Fander, Zhonghan Zhang, T. Choo, J. Enraght-Moony

"This paper describes the mineralogical and metallurgical procedures used to determine the recovery and concentrate grade of heavy oxide minerals occurring in lode deposits. The data produced also provide vital information to the processing engineers, which allows them to develop the most suitable flow sheet for that particular heavy mineral, here called an Economic Oxide Mineral (EOM). It demonstrates how results are interpreted to ensure that the proper process is used at each treatment stage to optimise recovery and to produce the most suitable concentrate at that point. Reference is made to some of the current equipment and techniques that can be used to process EOMs. The paper shows that when assessing the economic potential of a new ore body, or existing ore treatment plant, ore characterisation (OC) is necessary. This is especially true for EOMs such as cassiterite (SnO2), wolframite ((Fe, Mn, WO4,) pyrochlore ((Na,Ca)2Nb2O6(OH,F)), and tantalite (MnTa2O6) where often what seem to be small changes in ore types can have major effects on recovery and concentrate grade. Due to advances in flotation technology scheelite (CaWO4) in some deposits can be less vulnerable to OC variability than other EOM’s. Thorough mineralogical examination is shown to be the fundamental basis of correctly undertaking OC. This is because mineralogical analysis identifies each of the steps required to ensure that all ore types and zones are recognised, and differences explained, and shows the benefit in using reference samples to compare differences in the ores. The OC methods used for EOMs containing metals such as tantalum, tin, tungsten and niobium are similar; if two or more of these EOMs occur in one deposit as separate minerals, then OC will show when and how these minerals should be separated. The OC techniques described for EOMs can also be tailored for other heavy minerals, precious metals and graphite."

Jan 1, 2014

By Wolfgang Öfner

Many technical processes also yield dusty residues which usually contain appreciable amounts of valuable matter. Often they also accumulate substances detrimental to the process. Dumping them entirely in landfills wastes raw material and causes high disposal costs, but recycling them without prior treatment is often not feasible. Physical separation processes are preferable because of their rather low energy demand. In order to develop such treatment systematically, the residues must be characterized properly. The technique for such a characterization is taken from mineral processing: perfect fractionation according to continuous properties of the particles supplemented with chemical analysis are used for plotting the Henry-Reinhardt chart. This represents the benchmark for assessing actual separation processes and tests. Their results are compared in terms of ?selectivity? and plotted in the kappa chart. In this paper, Henry-Reinhardt chart and kappa chart are applied to several different types of residues from iron and steel production and show their potential for being upgraded before reutilization in the production process. This approach is suitable for virtually all dusty residues from other industrial processes as well. Keywords: residue, dust,iron and steel, process development, Henry-Reinhardt chart, kappa chart

Sep 1, 2012

By V. F. Petrov, E. P. Olberg, S. V. Petrov

"The study was carried out using process solutions produced during cyanidation of gold-bearing concentrates from a gold-processing plant. It was found that the water contained a significant portion of thiocyanate (7910.0 mg/L), cyanide was virtually not present. The metals occurred primarily as iron (355.0 mg/L) in the form of ferrocyanide. Cyanide recovery was conducted using an ozone treatment process with reactors developed by the Environmental Department of Irgiredmet. The process design ensured complete utilization (100%) of O3, thus equipment operation safety increased.The recovery of free cyanide from thiocyanate was 76.6%, which corresponded to 5.12 kg of NaCN (100%) per 1 m3 of solution. Recovered NaCN can be used for recycling in hydrometallurgical processes.The operating costs estimation showed that the production cost of a tonne of recovered cyanide was US$1288.7, considering the prices of energy and commercial sodium cyanide in Russia in 2017, i.e. recovered cyanide is cheaper than commercial cyanide by 55.8%.INTRODUCTION Depletion of oxidized gold-bearing ores readily amenable to cyanidation has shifted focus to large-scale processing of primary ores with high sulphide content. Primary ores processing flow sheets involve gravitational and/or flotation concentration with subsequent treatment of produced gold-bearing concentrates. Typically, concentrates reporting to cyanidation contain considerable amounts of sulphur that can interact with CN- and further formation of SCN-. The use of refractory gold liberation methods (bacterial liberation, ultra-fine grinding) provides activation of this side reaction up to complete consumption of free cyanide in a short period. This makes water recycling unviable and impractical.The interaction of the sulphur content in concentrates and cyanide contributes substantially to consumption of NaCN required for efficient gold recovery. Inappropriate consumption of the main reagent achieves dozens of kilogram per tonne of material to cyanidation, and reaches approximately 100% when gold is recovered from activated sulphide-containing products (e.g. by ultra-fine grinding)."

Jan 1, 2018

By Y. Y. Li, Q. Chen, Y. X. Cai, Q. Zhang, S. Mao

"Due to the influence of combustion conditions, the fly ash produced by some power plants has the problem of high-carbon content. The unburned carbon in fly ash can be removed by flotation, and the decarbon tailings should reach the national standard level I fly ash. The fineness of the requirement is one of the important indicators and is also an important factor affecting the tail ash activity. In this paper,adopting two methods investigate the effect of particle size on the flotation index: one is direct flotation of fly ash, and the other way is wet grinding + flotation of fly ash, comparing the two methods and selecting the appropriate process,which provides a way for the effective utilization of fly ash. INTRODUCTION Fly ash is a solid waste discharged from coal-fired power plants. The annual amount of emissions of fly ash are very large in China. The amount of fly ash were discharged from coal-fired power plants are increasing gradually, and the amount of fly ash stored has exceeded 2.5 billion tons, but the comprehensive utilization of fly ash is not high, which brings about a huge environmental problems( Lu et al.,2011). Carbon is a harmful component of fly ash in cement and concrete application (Zhang et al.,2008). Fly ash decarburization is an essential link to improve the utilization efficiency of fly ash and the reduce pollution ( Yang et al.,2012). Carbon is selected from fly ash to make full use of fly ash resources and improve utilization of fly ash (Li et al.,2008). In this paper, the flotation decarburization of high-carbon fly ash is studied, through comparing the grinding and not-grinding processes, optimizing the separation process of fly ash, which provides a way for the effective utilization of fly ash."

Jan 1, 2018

By S. H. Morar

Froth stability is widely recognized as a key driver of flotation selectivity. It is well known that froth stability is affected by the type and quantity of surface active reagents present (frothers), and the concentration and hydrophobicity of solid particles present. While some studies have been performed on the effect of frothers on froth stability in three-phase systems and the hydrophobicity of particles present, very little work has been performed on the effect of solids loading on froth stability. This may be due to insufficiently robust measurement techniques. This paper investigates the use of a new machine vision measurement to measure solids loading, and the relationship between this measurement, bubble size, and bubble burst rate on the froth surface. Keywords: froth flotation, machine vision, solids loading

Sep 1, 2012

By P. C. Beuria

Iron ore concentrate contains different mineral phases viz. hematite, magnetite, goethite, kaolinite, and gibbsite. Presence of some of these phases like goethite, kaolinite, and gibbsite contribute to the loss on ignition (LOI) content of the sample. Iron ore fines (pellet feed) are pelletized for utilization in DRI & BF processes. In the present pelletization technology i.e., straight grate and grate kiln processes, the LOI in the ore should be within the range of 2.0-2.5%. LOI content in the iron ore concentrate is found to be more than 4% after beneficiation of low-grade iron ore. It is therefore difficult to produce good quality pellet because of high LOI content. The LOI content of the sample is a detrimental factor in the pellet making. For effective pelletization, the LOI content in iron ore fines needs to be reduced before pelletization. It can be reduced by fluidized bed roasting. The objective of present work is to understand the kinetics of removal of LOI from iron ore fines. The effects of bed depth, temperature, and residence time on reduction of LOI content in iron ore fines were studied using muffle furnace. The process of roasting was carried out at four different temperatures varying from 400 to 950 °C with a variable residence time of 30, 45, 60 & 75 minutes and at bed depths of 16, 32, 48 & 64 mm. In all instance of experiments carried out, one of the parameters was kept constant. It was observed that at 850 °C and 30 minutes of residence time, there was sufficient removal of LOI in static bed condition even at a high bed depth of 64 mm. Keywords: LOI, pellet feed, fluidized bed roasting, goethite

Sep 1, 2012

By M. V. S. Cavalcante

The quality of iron ore pellets, represented in terms of parameters such as cold compressive strength (CCS) and Tumble Index (TI), has a strongly influence on the productivity and energy of reduction furnaces like the blast furnace and on the quality of hot metal or liquid iron. The main objective of pelletization operations is to produce iron ore pellets of desirable specifications and ensure high levels of plant productivity and energy efficiency. Advanced process control of an industrial iron ore pellet induration process using a soft sensor for pellet quality and fuzzy-logic based control algorithm is described in this paper. The pellet quality soft sensor consists of a rigorous mathematical model of the induration process and a statistical model for the pellet quality parameters. The mathematical model is based on the fundamental principles of heat and mass transfer between gases and pellets, kinetics of drying and condensation of moisture, combustion of coke, calcination of limestone, and melting and solidification of pellets. The predictions of wind-box temperature profiles are in close agreement with the measured profiles. The time-temperature profiles of the pellets during induration, along with raw material characteristics and induration process operating conditions, are used as inputs to the quality model to predict cold compressive strength and the Tumble Index. The predictions of the quality soft sensor along with the rules based on fuzzy-logic derived from simulation results and operator experience are then utilized to control the induration process to achieve precise control of the quality parameters and to optimize the induration process in terms of fuel efficiency and productivity. The mathematical model is also utilized as a soft sensor for temperature, moisture and composition profiles of pellets and gases. Results of implementation of this model-based control strategy on an industrial scale induration process will be presented. Keywords: iron ore, pelletization, simulation, process control, optimisation

Sep 1, 2012

By D. Krawczykowski, D. Saramak, T. Gawenda

"Annual world zinc consumption is as high as nearly 14 millions of tonnes. Approximately 50% share of zinc is used for corrosion protection in processes of continuous galvanization and the hot dip processes. In the latter, two zinc containing residues are produced: zinc ash and hard zinc, which constitute around 10% each. Paper concerns the method of possible separation of metallic zinc from the non-metallic zinc compounds from the zinc ashes – the waste product of hot dip galvanization process. The investigative programme covered the comminution tests of the feed (zinc ash) in selected crushers: jaw crusher, roller crusher and impactor. Results of investigations show that application of individual crushing device results in various breakage of the feed sample. Impact force caused the highest increase in finest particles size fractions of the product, while metallic and non-metallic fractions were comminuted differently. The compression force, in turn, caused the selective comminution, i.e. the breakage of metallic zinc was observed in a higher degree. The presented approach appears to be an economical supplementary method of initial recovery of metallic zinc from metallurgical zinc waste. For the high demands for the zinc in the world and the need of corrosion protection, the method presented in the paper helps in more effective zinc recovery and environmental protection.INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY World production of metallic zinc during last decade shows a slight increase and in recent years its consumptions reach 14 millions of tonnes. Figure 1 shows world production of zinc in the time period 2009 – 2016. Main directions of zinc utilization include: - Galvanization - Production of zinc alloys - Brass and bronze production - Semi-manufactures of zinc - Chemicals The major share in global zinc consumption constitute galvanization process (Bright 2007). Two main types of zinc galvanization are: hot-dip galvanizing (HDG) and electro-galvanizing."

Jan 1, 2018

By A. Gueciouer, A. Akkouche, K. Chalah, A. Benmounah

"Drilling solid waste is a typical industrial solid waste, and it is a major pollutant source to ecological environment. Generally, waste management dewatering systems separate solids and fine particles from the liquid phase of drilling fluid, thereby leaving a clarified aqueous solution and allow the cleaning of waste fluids. Typically, dewatering waste management systems clean drilling fluid through coagulation, flocculation and/or mechanical separation. Chemicals used in dewatering are based on the coagulation-flocculation process, which it facilitate the removal of suspended solids and colloidal particles. The factors which can promote the coagulation-flocculation are velocity gradient, contact time, and PH. The objective of this work is to optimize a formulation adequate for dewatering based on the coagulation-flocculation process used coagulant (Aluminum sulphate), anionic flocculants (Partially Hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide) and anionic polyelectrolytes (in solid form with linear chain with very high molecular weight). The results obtained show the good efficiency of the coagulant and flocculants. INTRODUCTION Rig site dewatering of drilling fluids with recycling of processed water can help an operator to comply with environmental rules by reducing volumes of waste and reducing long term liabilities. It can also reduce disposal costs and provide a cleaner drill site overall. Most of the environmental concerns during the 1980s involved hazardous materials and toxic wastes. Drilling fluids, many of which are chemically benign, have escaped many of the difficult-to-comply-with rules and regulations. During the 1990s, however, operators may be required to submit a written plan for liquid waste reduction for even nonhazardous materials. Many states and local agencies may institute total bans on oil field wastes. Drilling rigs typically produce about 1 bbl of liquid waste for every 1 ft of hole drilled. Thus, a typical drilling operation can produce a large quantity of waste [1]. To improve the dewaterability of sludge, different pretreatment processes have been widely studied and developed including thermal, chemical, magnetic, mechanical, acoustic, electric, electro-acoustic and their hybrid treatment processes [2]. Rig site dewatering (figure 1) is the process of injecting coagulants or flocculating chemicals into the mud entering a large clarifying centrifuge. Coagulation occurs when the solid and allowing it to be attracted to other solids by van der waals forces. Flocculation is the binding of individual solid particles into aggregates of multiple particles. It is physical, rather than electrical, and occurs when one segment of a flocculating polymer chain absorbs simultaneously onto more than one particle [3]."

Jan 1, 2018

Mineral processing is an energy and water intensive activity. Mill comminution equipment usually has high energy requirements which necessitate extensive cooling to remove heat. Cooling requirements are typically 10% to 20% of the comminution energy. If there is an adequate supply of suitable water, open water-based cooling systems are the simplest, cheapest and most energy efficient cooling method available. This paper describes a method to determine the water demand for open water-based cooling systems at a plant and to determine whether the mine has sufficient water to meet that demand.

Jan 1, 2014

By G. H. Li

Preparation strontium carbonate with celestite concentrate by flotation is studied by agglomeration-reduction roasting process. It is shown that, the drop strength of green pellet is greater than 4 times?(0.5m) -1 under the balling conditions of moisture of 9% and time of 18~20min. Lignin xanthate obviously improves the ballability of the celestite concentrate due to the increase of surface hydrophilicity, therefore, the balling rate is increased, as well as green ball strength. The drop strength of 7 times?(0.5m) -1 can be obtained when the lignin xanthate dosage is 0.5%~1%. Reduction roasting with anthracite shows that the SrSO4 conversion is 82%~83% for celestite concentrate pellet, under the optimal conditions of roasting temperature of 1100~1150? and time of 30min, and it is 10% higher than conversion of celestite lump under the same conditions. The strontium carbonate are prepared after roasted pellets are leached, purified and carbonated, and the SrCO3 content is higher than 97% , while the content of CaCO3 is less than 0.3%.

Jan 1, 2014

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

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

Jan 1, 2014

By V. P. Yakushkin, B. S. Ksenofontov

"Multistage model designed and used for more detailed description of floatation process. The study develops a new model of flotation kinetics description. It defines flotation as process that consists of several stages: air bubbles and particles are separate, air bubbles and particles form a raising aggregate, aggregate raises to froth layer. This description significantly differs from commonly used model, which is much simplified. The multistage model gives an in-depth description and considers different aspects of flotation. Experimental approval of the new model resulted in its accuracy.The model is to be used for description of all flotation processes’ kinetics of wastewater treatment. It helps in accurate designing of flotation treatment plants and may be used for further research of flotation process. Columnar flotation installation was designed by using multistage model. This installation consists of new tubular aerators with special ejectors, froth pressing system as well as unit of thin-layering lighting to catch microflotocomplex “particle – bubble”. Usage of tubular aerators allowed to aerate the overall volume of pulp. Due to use of special ejectors with longer mixing camera we state higher volume of small-sized floto-active bubbles. Use of multistage model allowed to optimize and get higher technological results of potash salts enrichment. Tests were conducted on centrifuges-floatation installation system. Meanwhile, froth concentrate contained mainly thin hydrophobic particles sized circa 0,1 mm. As a result we set that during floatation cleaning process of froth concentrate 95-98% of chloride potassium (KCI) is derived from foam.The final product satisfies production quality. Columnar floatation installation productivity was 17 – 21 m3/m2h, which is a high technological result. Columnar floatation installation is one of the best examples of concentrating equipment using nearly all technological indices."

Jan 1, 2018

By V. M. Mankov, O. V. Zamyatin

"Fine free gold at a size of minus 250-100 µm can be effectively recovered from mineral materials (buried clay placers, saprolites, gold-bearing aggregates, technogenic sands etc.), or MM, using some developed and implemented in practice cost-effective basic technological schemes of MM processing at every stage: exploration, main concentration processes, upgrading of gravity concentrates etc. Such technologies are based on mineral materials composition, different content of fine gold mass fractions, and include improved two-stage sluicing technology, jigging technology, advanced technology and integrated technology. The main operation principle of the given technologies is gravity concentration. They provide recovery of fine gold of any size from MM, including gold finer than 100 µm, using concentration systems and plants with a capacity of 1-2 and up to 100-200 m3 per hour. Selection of a cost-effective technology depends on its technical and economic viability regarding to mineral material composition, optimum performance and concentration rate. The developed technologies of mineral materials concentration establish a balance between technological, technical and economic factors, and ensure profitable development of deposits containing free gold and characterized by a complex composition of concentrating material. Free gold recovery with these systems increases by 2.0-2.5 times for gold particles at a size of minus 250+100 µm and 10-30 times for gold particles of minus 100 µm, compared to conventional sluicing systems. The Irgiredmet Institute has developed and supplies primary concentrate washing machines for upgrading gravity concentrates of up to 100 mm in size, with a capacity of 1.0-5.0 m3/h, fitted with various production equipment including pyro- and hydrometallurgical systems. Additionally, the Irgiredmet Institute develops and manufactures systems of mechanized processing of geological and technological samples (UOMP; registered design certificate No.27505, Russia) designed for complete recovery of free gold in the process of geological samples handling and decreasing of a human factor influence. A system includes a package of technologically associated disintegration, classification and concentration equipment with some “know-how” elements that provide effective recovery of fine gold at the exploration stage. A number of Irgiredmet’s patented technologies and systems (patents of the Russian Federation) have no equivalents in the field of mineral processing and provide designing of technologically practical and cost-effective flowsheets that offer higher recovery of gold of different sizes (fine gold), at every stage of processing of mineral materials including basic concentration processes, upgrading and exploration etc."

Jan 1, 2018