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By G Tranell, E Pastor-Vallés, A Vallejo-Olivares, J B. Pettersen

Metals are essential for the sustainability transition and decarbonisation of society. Yet, it will be paramount to produce them sustainably and minimise the affiliated resource and energy use and the associated emissions. In the circular economy, the metallurgical industry should recycle existing material stocks, and improve its utilisation of wastes, residues and side streams. This increases the complexity of processes, as they become both (often multi-fraction) waste treatment as well as material production processes and brings complexity to the assessment of environmental benefits. Assessing the environmental impact of technological developments frequently is supported by life cycle assessment (LCA). While the method is well documented, its implementation involves several methodological choices that deserve reasoning and analysis, such as how to define the product when former wastes are turned into new products, the selection of impact methodology when converting emissions to environmental indicators, the definition of system boundaries and co-product allocation and the interpretation of sensitivity and uncertainty in final outcomes. In this exploratory study, we investigate how the variation of LCA set-up affects the environmental burden of the system. We consider a metallurgical process where a mix of hard-to-recycle aluminium-containing streams is used to produce aluminium cast alloys in a rotary furnace. Remelting with salt-fluxes allows recovering metals from partly oxidised/contaminated streams, such as dross, bottom ash and industrial shavings, but at the expense of generating significant amounts of salt-slag/salt-cake hazardous waste. The study considers different system alternatives such as landfilling the salt-slag residues versus valourising them into salts, aluminium concentrates, ammonium sulfate and non-metallic-compounds to be used by the metallurgical, construction or chemical industries. Practical recommendations are outlined to facilitate the implementation of LCA in assessing the potential benefits of the circular economy in the metallurgical sector.

Aug 21, 2024

By Ivan C. Machado

Jaguar Mining Inc. is implementing a 1.1 Mtpy, 7-year LOM gold project in the Iron Quadrangle (?Quadrilátero Ferrífero?), Brazil. Construction is on schedule and startup is programmed for Q2 2010. Mill feed grade averages 4.43 g/t and LOM gold production is estimated at 800,000 oz. The project entails two sulfide underground mines and three oxide/transition open pit mines. A state-of-the-art flotation/gravity concentration/CIP Plant has been designed based on testwork carried out by internationally recognized Canadian, U.S., and Brazilian laboratories. The mass recovery of the flotation section is only ca 10%, while its gold recovery is about 90%. Therefore, the CIP-ADR Plant will treat only 10% of the solids mass contained in the mill feed, while 90% will be fully cyanide-free material that will be partially used to feed a Backfill Plant. The leached tailings will be conveyed to a rather small tailings dam, whose 20- m3/h supernatant solution will be treated by a new electrolytic technology. The plant design contemplates a High Density Thickener for the cyanide-free rejects exceeding the backfill demand and a Regrinding Section before the Leaching Circuit. The estimated overall metallurgical recovery sits around 92%. This paper focus on the use of modern technologies to reduce costs, risks, and liabilities.

May 1, 2010

By M. B. Balachandra

A three-dimensional finite element analysis was performed of an instrumented section of a double-entry coal mine in order to provide a comparison between field measurements and existing analytic techniques. The BMINES computer code was used to perform the analysis. The sequence of excavation of the entries was considered, as well as the installation of rock bolts and cribbing during the mining cycle. The materials In the region under investigation were idealized into four rock types and coal. The rocks were assumed to be isotropically elastic, perfectly plastic. Coal was represented by an elastically anisotropic (transverse isotropy) and plastically isotropic model. A fracture yield criterion of the Coulomb form was used for all materials. The strength and stiffness of all materials were substantially reduced from available laboratory data to account for in-situ properties. Qualitative trends and stress distributions obtained from the calculation were found to be reasonable. However, computed displacements and closures were greatly exaggerated and an excessive degree of inelastic deformation was indicated in the coal, especially adjacent to the excavated faces. It was established that both these effects were the result of an excessive reduction in the strength and stiffness of the materials. The analysis underscores the need for three-dimensional calculations by identifying a number of important structural response parameters that would be either outside the scope of, or misrepresented by, two-dimensional analyses. The analysis also emphasizes the need for comprehensive and accurate measurement of material properties in order fully to exploit the power of the analytical techniques to generate reliable predictions.

Jan 1, 1976

By Juárez T. Julio Cesar, Mendez R. Eliecer, Reyes P. Martín, Flores G. Mizraim Uriel, Teja R. Aislinn Michelle, Hernández C. Leticia, Reyes D. Iván Alejandro

The present study shows the characterization of a zinc concentrate collected at Hidalgo, Mexico, in order to identify its mineralogical species and to propose a leaching methodology for silver recovery. The results obtained by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) show Sphalerite (ZnS) as the mineralogical matrix and silver into the specie proustite (Ag3AsS3). The techniques of Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Microanalysis (SEM-EDS) and Polarized Optical Microscopy (POM) identified the presence of sulfides of Fe, Cu, Pb and Zn, in addition to silicates and feldspar. The proposed dissolution method of Ag(I) was carried out with [S2O3 2−] = 0.5 M and [NaOH] = 0.1 M to regulate the medium at pH = 9 for 12 h at 298 K. Oxidation of the concentrate was favored by injection of O2 to a partial pressure of 1 atm. Monitoring of the reaction was carried out by reading the [Ag] and [As] by AAS.

Mar 1, 2017

By Olav Mellgren

Part I. The interaction between potassium ethyl xanthate and lead salts has been studied thermo-chemically. It is shown that ethyl xanthate reacts with lead carbonate, basic carbonate, thiosulfate and sulfate according to principles of simple chemistry, whereas reactions with lead sulfite, metasulfite, basic thiosulfate and hydroxide at high pH are associated with secondary reactions. A new compound "xanthogen thiosulfate" is postulated. Part 11. Adsorption of ethyl xanthate on galena has been studied quantitatively and thennochemi-cally. It is shown that an ion-exchange mechanism governs the adsorption process and that the heat of adsorption of xanthate on galena is equivalent to the heat of reaction of ethyl xanthate with bulk lead salts. It is concluded that the entropy content of the surface "compound" on galena is different from that of a corresponding bulk lead salt. Alkali depression is in part shown to be due to the instability of the xanthate-galena system at high pH and to the formation of basic lead salts. Sulfate and carbonate ions are shown to have a stabilizing effect on the xanthate-galena system. PARTI. THERMOCHEMISTRY OF ETHYL XANTHATE AND OF ITS REACTION WITH LEAD SALTS In the past little attention has been paid to the chemistry of lead xanthate. It is known that xan-thates form slightly soluble compounds with lead and that suspensions of lead xanthates in alkaline solution decompose rather readily.' The solubility of lead ethyl xanthate is of the order of 2.6 x 10-6 moles per 1. At increasing pH the xanthate concentration of a saturated solution contains more xanthate. Thus at pH 11 this xanthate content is about 100-fold larger than at pH 7.1 Xanthates are known to be consumed when added to a suspension of slightly soluble lead salts such as lead sulfate and lead carbonate. It is unknown to what extent this xanthate consumption is due to a simple chemical reaction because, frequently, observations are made which reveal secondary reaction products in such reactions. Thermochemical study of the reaction between xanthate and lead salts offers a means to clarify the significance of these reactions as the enthalpy changes can be accurately predicted from heat of formation of lead salts in pure solution reactions. In the present work the heats of formation of lead ethyl xanthate from potassium ethyl xanthate and lead salts are determined and some thermochemical aspects of xanthate in solution are studied. The results of these investigations are presented in Part I. In Part II the heat of adsorption of ethyl xanthate on galena surfaces is presented. All enthalpy changes were measured directly in a microcalorimeter. Calorimeter: The calorimeter used for measuring enthalpy changes was similar to that used by Redinha and Kitchener2 which was based on a description by Derbyshire and Marshall.3 Other useful references4,5 are listed. A sketch of the calorimeter

Jan 1, 1967

By Charles Janin

(San Francisco Meeting, October, 1911.) THE first successful bucket-elevator dredge to operate in California was put in commission at Oroville in March, 1898. There had been numerous previous attempts at dredging, but none of the earlier boats proved a success. The gold-miners in California early conceived the idea of a machine to dig gravel from the beds and bars of auriferous streams that were inaccessible by the methods then employed, and it was only a few months after the discovery of gold in California that such a machine was. shipped around Cape Horn from New York to San Francisco. This was, however, but the forerunner of many failures in gold-dredging, and was soon at the bottom of the Sacramento river. During succeeding years many other unsuccessful attempts were made, and it was not until 1897 that a dredge of the single-lift bucket-elevator type was floated on the Yuba river. This dredge was built by the Risdon Iron Works for R. H. Postlethwaite, and would probably have been a success if it had been operated on some of the rich Oroville ground instead of in a turbulent stream, where the dredge was wrecked during a flood, and was not repaired. Fig. 1 is a sketch-map of California, showing gold-dredging areas. It is not my intention to narrate in detail the history of the early failures in gold-dredging, and the various steps in the development of the modern boat, but merely to touch upon this in a general way, and to call attention to the wide difference in capacity and operating-cost between the first successful dredge, with an actual capacity of 600 cu. yd. per day-though its rated capacity was in excess of this-and the present modern dredge with 15-cu. ft. buckets, and an average capacity of 250,000 cu. .yd. per month. Even this enormous capacity has several times been exceeded on monthly runs. The first successful dredges

Mar 1, 1912

By L. J. Prosser, A. T. Iannacchione

Unfortunately from 1991 through 1995, 44 miners were fatally injured in the stone industry. Of these 12 occurred at underground mines from a total work force of less than 2,000 miners. Nine of these 12 miners were fatally injured in falls of roof or rib. A safer environment for the miners can be achieved by evaluating the nature of the hazardous ground and by developing more efficient and effective ground control strategies. Roof and rib conditions in the underground stone industry were observed and assessed at 33 mines in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia [(Figure 1)]. Hazard assessment indicated that those ground failures occurring under moderate to substantial overburden (> 30 m [l00 ft]) were caused by stress concentrations and geologic structures. Ground failures near the surface are caused by solution (water) processes. Selection of the mining horizon and mine layout decisions tremendously influence ground stability.

Feb 24, 1997

By Arthur F. TQggQrt

THE approximate status of education in ore dressing in 1871 is reflected by Rossiter W. Raymond in an article written at that time presenting the curricula and descriptions of the laboratories at the various mining schools in the United States. For the most part, the curricula in which ore dressing was taught were for mining engineering. They comprised courses in geology, mining, and pyrometallurgy about equal in point or credit weights; a short course in ore dressing, and a somewhat longer course in assaying; and courses in surveying, hydraulics, power, and strength of materials-all superimposed on a broad foundation of physics, chemistry, and mathematics. Some curricula contained a fair content of the humanities. Then, as now, the emphasis on fundamentals was greater in the older colleges and universities. The report on the Columbia School of Mines, then relatively young, emphasized that a large percentage of its students were college graduates. As technical and scientific knowledge grew, first metallurgy and then geology were set up as separate curricula. So far as curriculum designation is con-

Jan 1, 1947

By Richard E. Danell

"Blasting is a principal step in the surface mining process for breaking and, in the case of overburdencasting, moving rocks and minerals. As many surface mines are coming to the end of theiroperational life, blasting can once again play an important role through the earthmoving operationsrequired to rehabilitate the minesite. Since blasting is such an energetic and destructive process, itis difficult initially to envisage its use in rehabilitation. However, blasting has found applications inmany civil engineering projects aimed at rehabilitation, including well digging, channelling and soilcompaction. For surface mine rehabilitation, the main purpose of earthmoving operations is toproduce a stable landfonn that will sustain revegetation. In particular, blasting can be applied toreducing the slope of steep walls left by quarrying and open pit mining through a modified form ofthe overburden casting technique. Blasting can also be applied to breaking up pit floors andbenches to speed and improve revegetation of these areas (subsoiling)."

Jan 1, 1994

By A. J. C. Paterson

High density slurry and paste tailings systems offer significant environmental benefits primarily related to reduced water consumption. However, these potential advantages need to be evaluated on a project-by-project basis. The successful design of a thickened or paste tailings system requires that the system is designed to accommodate the effect of the high density slurry on pumps, pipelines and the overall system operation. The transport system must be designed as an integrated unit and the interaction of all the components need to be considered. The transport system includes the slurry preparation plant, the pump station and the pipeline. This paper assesses the impact of increasing the slurry density in a platinum tailings system from conventional densities to thickened and paste tailings densities. As slurry density and rheology increase, there is a sharp increase in energy consumption for the additional water savings and this additional cost needs to be considered. A case study shows that there is a considerable benefit in increasing densities to the point at which tailings can be still be deposited in the standard manner. For existing systems, increasing density can result in an increased capacity at a marginal power cost, provided that the slurry is not too viscous. For a new system, a smaller pump and pipeline can result in lower capital costs and a marginally higher energy cost, if the optimum density is selected. Keywords: tailings, paste, pumping, slurry

Jan 1, 2004

By Robert D. Thomson

Land use is the single most important element affecting the quality of our physical environment. .The minerals industry is a user of land and by its very nature, directly affects the landscape. Mining is a very visible activity. Producers of sand and gravel, crushed stone, clay, cement and lime operate right at the interface of the public. These production sites must be located near population centers. People are more travel oriented than years ago and through use of the expanded interstate highway system visit remote and little-visited areas. They visit communities on their vacations, places they enjoy on weekends and places they drive past on business trips. Although not residents of these localities, they have a strong interest in changes that occur in the landscape. As a result, the public has a greater concern today about mining and its use of land. From 1930 through 1971, the minerals industry used 3.65 million acres, or 0.16 percent of the land mass in the United States (4)2/. Of the total 3.65 million acres utilized, about 59 percent was accounted for by the area of excavation, 20 percent by disposal of overburden and other mine wastes from surface mining, 13 percent by disposal of mill or processing wastes, and 5 percent by disposal of underground mine wastes; the remaining 3 percent was subsided or disturbed as a result of underground workings. Nonmetallic minerals and fossil fuels each accounted for 43 percent of surface land used during 1930-71; the metal mining industry utilized the remaining 14 percent.

Jan 1, 1976

By María Cristina Ruiz

Enargite rich copper concentrates can not be treated by conventional smelting/converting technology and thus nonconventional methods such as leaching must be used. Since enargite (Cu3AsS4) is a hard to dissolve mineral in acidic solutions, pyrite, a common impurity in copper concentrates, could be used to increase the enargite dissolution rate. On this matter, we present in this work experimental data on the pressure leaching of a mixed enargite-pyrite concentrate in H2SO4-O2. The results show that the dissolution of enargite from the mixed concentrate is considerably faster than the dissolution of pure enargite mineral. The leaching rate increases significantly with temperature. Over 98% of enargite was dissolved in leaching 64 micron size particles at 200 ºC and 100 psi of partial pressure of oxygen in just 30 minutes. A change in the partial pressure of oxygen from 50 to 150 psi showed also a large influence in the leaching rate.

Jan 1, 2010

By N. Malakondaiah

Several growth chamber and laboratory experiments were conducted to study the germination behavior of plant species on mine spoils and plant growth responses to nutrients on spoils and topsoils. Experiments were conducted to study the germination potential of some native and introduced species under various conditions. The seeds of green needlegrass, side oats grama, thickspike wheatgrass, crested wheatgrass, birdsfoot trefoil and emerald crownvetch were less tolerant, whereas those of alkali sacaton. durar hard fescue, slender wheatgrass, yellow sweetclover and alfalfa were most tolerant to the sodic mine spoil conditions. Addition of leonardite improved the germination potential of some of the poor genninators. Slender wheatgrass and yellow sweetclover were used as test plants to study the fertility status and productivity potential of stockpiled topsoils and spoils collected from Center. Glenharold and South Beulah of North Dakota. The topsoils were neither saline nor sodic but low in N and P. The spoils were neutral to alkaline with SAIL of 12-32, EC of 1.8-5.5 mmhos/cm, Olsen&apos;s P< µ4g/g, and total N <0.07%. Application of N and P together to the topsoils increased the yield of wheatgrass and sweetclover by 88% and 70% of their respective maximum yields, whereas near maximum yields were obtained for both the species by the same treatments to the spoils. The average yields on topsoils were higher than the yields on spoils. The concentrations of major nutrients were higher in plants grown on topsoil, whereas the opposite was true with the concentrations of Mn, Zn, and Cu. Growth chamber experiments were also conducted to study the growth responses of alfalfa, oats and slender wheat grass by the application of Mn and Zn to a sodic coal mine spoil which was previously used for pot culture experiments. Significant growth responses to Mn and Zn were observed in alfalfa but not in oats or slender wheatgrass. Fertilizing the spoil with Mn along with NPK increased the yield of alfalfa to 85% and with Mn + Zn to 99%. Growth responses and plant composition results of this study confirm that the application of major nutrients to spoils can accentuate Zn and Mn deficiencies in some plants.

Jan 1, 1982

By D. J. Coolidge, H. L. Sheakley

THIS paper does not deal with all sands used in the glass industry in Missouri; it covers only that used in the plate-glass factory at Crystal City. However, it is probably safe to say that other sands, pro- [ ] duced throughout the state for this purpose, are of identical nature. The glass sand used in Missouri is commonly called the St. Peter deposit, which is ascribed to the Ordovician Rock series in the form of sandstone. This St. Peter deposit, aside from a few small outliers, covers a large area of eastern Missouri. It forms, through a broad curve, the northeast margin of the typical Ozark region between Cape Girardeau on the southeast and Mineola, Montgomery County, on the northwest. The belt is extremely irregular, varying from one to ten miles in width; its length is 150 miles in a straight line. [ ] The outcrop near the entrance to the Crystal City mine appears in the form of a sandstone bluff approximately 30 ft. high, running along Plattin Creek (Fig. , I). Above the sand rock an overburden of Joachim limestone appears, which, thickens to nearly 300 ft. and forms the hill commonly called Buck Knob. Test holes, where drilled at various points and the drillers&apos; log indicate that the St. Peter deposit ranges in thickness from 63 to 71 feet. PROPERTIES OT THE ST. PETER SAND From an analysis of the glass sands of the St. Peter formation in Missouri, the follow-

Jan 1, 1942

Discussion at the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers' general meeting held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 8th April 1916, on the paper published in Trans. I.Min.E., vol.LI, 1916, p.72-90, included written contributions on size and gauge standardisation by Lupton A., Peck W.R., Dean S., Mayer R.W. and Ashworth J., with the author's written response, and by Bulman H.F. and Brown M.

Dec 1, 1916

By Stephen M. Smading

Unique onsite assembly of a 12.43 m Main Beam TBM and back-up system was completed on September 18, 2008 in the remote mountains of the Sichuan province of China. The equipment was assembled onsite, without previously having been assembled and tested in a factory, utilizing a method called Onsite First Time Assembly (OFTA). The Jinping-II hydroelectric project features four parallel headrace tunnels approximately 18 km long, two of which will be excavated by TBMs and two by drill and blast. A nearby fifth tunnel is being excavated by a 7.2 m TBM to draw down ground water in advance of excavating the headrace tunnels. This paper addresses the following topics: ¦Project description including geology and terrain; ¦The decision process leading to onsite first time assembly, the assembly process and logistics, and lessons learned; ¦Design features of the TBM and back-up system; and ¦Operational history from startup to the writing of the paper.

By A Prinsloo, R Tewu

Automatic control of semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mills has often been considered complex. Recent experiences at Century Zinc (worldÆs second largest open pit zinc mine) refute this. Together with operating knowledge and appropriate control techniques high quality control is achievable. In this application model-based, constraint, and multiple output control were employed. The control was implemented using standard blocks in the plant DCS. The resulting overall control strategy fulfils the operating objectives and controls the mill with minimal operator involvement over 95 per cent of the time. Previous campaigns using expert systems and complex DCS based control have lacked durability. Their fall into disuse is briefly discussed.

Jan 1, 2009

By Thomas J. Peters

The King Mountain study area is centered about 120 air km northwest of Blackfoot, and 30 air km north of Arco, Idaho. The study area makes up the southern one-third of the northwest-trending Lost River Range--the highest mountain range in Idaho. The area is predominantly underlain by Paleozoic-age marine limestone and lesser dolostone, with a relatively small inlier of silica-rich, Ordovician-age quartzite. There are vast, unquantified resources of these industrial minerals present; however, special markets need to be developed for these resources which are near enough for transportation costs to be competitive. Five prospects were found in the study area; however, only one, the Elbow quartz silica prospect, contains resources and current claims. There has been no mineral production in the study area.

Jan 1, 1993

By L. A. Cornish, S. N. Prins, R. Süss

The work is being done using the Thermo-CalcTM software, and the database is being built up by obtaining good thermodynamic descriptions of all of the possible phases in the system. The database supplied did not cover all of the phases, and these had to be gleaned from literature, or modelled using experimental data. Similarly, not all of the experimental data were known, and where there were gaps or inconsistencies, experiments had to be undertaken. A preliminary version of the database was constructed from assessed thermodynamic data-sets for the binary systems only. The binary descriptions were combined allowing extrapolation into the ternary systems, and experimental phase equilibrium data were compared with calculated results. Very good agreement was obtained for the Pt-Al-Ru and Pt-Cr-Ru systems, which was encouraging and confirmed that the higher-order systems could be calculated from the binary systems with confidence. Since some of the phase models in databases were different, these phases had to be remodelled. However, more work is ongoing for information concerning the ternary phases present in the Al-Cr-Ru, Pt-Al-Ru (two ternary compounds in each) and Pt-Al-Cr (possibly more than three ternary compounds) systems. At later stage of the work, problems with the thermodynamic descriptions of the Cr-Ru and Pt-Cr binary systems were found. A programme of experimental work to overcome these has been devised, and is being undertaken. Keywords: Pt-based alloys, phase diagram calculations.

Jan 1, 2006

By J. Q. Chen

The elastic-plastic behavior and the fracture mechanisms of two 2198 Al-Cu-Li thin sheets are investigated. The first material (2 mm thick) is in a recrystallized state after cold rolling. The second material (6 mm thick) is hot rolled and has a fibrous grain structure. The two materials are studied in both T351 and T851 conditions. Tensile tests are carried out along different sheet directions using flat and notched specimens. Fracture resistance was characterized using Kahn tear specimens and M(T) panels. Macroscopic fracture surface of smooth tensile specimens depends not only on testing material but also on the loading direction. For Kahn tear specimens, fracture is initiated in a small flat triangle whereas slant fracture is observed during crack propagation. Fracture mechanisms were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray 3D tomography.

Jan 1, 2011