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By L. W. Luo

Zeolite in some regions or countries of the world have been the subjects of materials for environmental remediation involving the use of removal to heavy metal ions and some organic pollutant as a sorbent because of its capacious ions exchange and huge surface area. This article addresses the equilibrium and kinetics for manganese adsorption using zeolite modified by hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (HTMAB) as a sorbent material over a range of pH between 3.4~7.2 with eight different Mn(?) solution concentrations. PHzpc (pH of zero point charge) of the sorbent was examined according to the method proposed by Tripathy and Kanungo, and a value of 6.91 was obtained. The experimental data fit langmuir?s model for the majority of pH and Mn(?) solution concentrations tested (0.92<R2<0.97). The maximal adsorption capacity, qm ascending with pH between 3.4~7.2, rise from 15.01mg?g-1 at 3.4 to 19.46 mg?g-1 at 7.2. Besides, the constant of Freundlich Kf have the same trend with qm, increases with pH ascending. And the sorption intensity, represented by parameter 1/n in Freundlich?s model, is favorable in entire range of metal ions concentration studied. Finally, kinetics data accurately fit to pseudo-second order which indicate that there must be sorption of Mn(?) behavior occurring on inner-sphere of the sorbent.

Jan 1, 2014

Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is traditionally used in plant operation to separate feldspars from quartz. It acts during the conditioning step as a pH regulator and an activating agent providing an excellent selectivity. However, a corrosive chemical environment and the ecological impacts from the potential fluoride ion contamination are limiting factors to use this chemical agent at an industrial scale. Investigations of the amine-feldspar interactions in the absence and presence of non-linear long-chain alcohols were carried out on two ore samples. The presence of alcohol molecules led to form a closed packed layer only on the surface of feldspars. The highest order and packing at the feldspar surface were observed with a particular alkyl chain structure as Guerbert alcohols. A new flotation process was developed and tested at both lab and pilot scales on different feldspar ores. The Guerbert alcohols allow to perform a feldspar concentrate with very low content in quartz (2.3-3.5 %) and feldspars recovery from 78 to 81 % while the aliphatic isoalcohols show a more higher recovery level (88-89 %). New HF-free process is strongly dependent on the pH range (1.7-2.5) and sulphuric acid consumption during conditioning steps. Optimal amine/alcohol weight ratio is ranged between 0.8 and 1.0. The values below 0.8 decrease strongly the flotation selectivity and the quartz recovery within the feldspar concentrates is higher than that occurs with HF.

Sep 1, 2012

By K. H. Luo, J. Y. Liu

An experimental study on interparticle breakage of three iron ores was carried out by compressive stressing of particle-bed in a piston-die device. The feeds to the particle-bed stressing were five narrow size fractions in the size range of 0.2~3.2 mm respectively and a wide size fraction of 0/4.0 mm. The pressures applied were in the range between 30 and 360 MPa. The results show that the energy absorption of the particle bed increases linearly with the pressure; the increase of the product fineness with the pressure declines as the pressure goes up; and the product size distributions resulting from interparticle breakage of different narrow size fractions have no self-similarity. Using data obtained from the piston-die compressive stressing test, the suitability of a previously-developed material-characterization model for interparticle breakage was verified for these ores. It is shown that the particle-bed compression test conducted with piston-die device in lab-scale may provide a cost-effective way of studying and modelling size-reduction of ore materials by interparticle breakage.

Jan 1, 2014

By S. M. Narbekova, L. V. Semushkina, Zh. A. Aldybayeva, A. A. Mukhanova, D. K. Turysbekov, N. K. Tussupbayev

More complex and heavy-concentrating oxidized and mixed sulphidic oxidized ores are involved in production because of increasing needs for non-ferrous metals. Extraction of the oxidized minerals of non-ferrous metals general in current technologies. The problem is solved to oxidized polymetallic ores the preliminary selective sulphidization is the oxidized surface of the components by means of hydrogen sulphide, sulphide and calcium polysulphide, and also element sulphur, etc. The task was to study details of flotation of the oxidized lead-bearing ore of the Zarechnoe deposit (Kazakhstan) with calcium polysulphide as sulphidation. According to chemical analysis initial samples of the ore contain, %: lead – 4.8; zinc – 0.1; general iron – 0.81. Phase structure lead is characterized by the oxidized form of 57.76-64.5 %; by sulphidic status of 25.5-32.64 %, and by plyumboyarosite of 19.0-23.02 %. Researches on flotation beneficiation of oxidized lead-bearing ore are conducted. Sulfidizator gave to grinding, on flotations there were used the collector (butyl xanthogenate of sodium) and frother (T-80). Experiments were conducted with a new sulphidizator – calcium polysulphide. The latter is obtained by interaction of CaO calcium oxide with sulfur and water at high temperature with component mass the following ratio S:CaO:H2O =10:5:85. Extent of mill initial ore was optimised (88.42 % of - 0.071 mm grade). For the optimum mill mode the studies on matching of an optimized consumption of sulphidizators are performed. On basic technology with application of sulphide of sodium as a sulphidizator at optimum mill, the lead concentrate with the content of lead 64.4 % at extraction of 86.6 % was received. The content of cerussite in a concentrate was about 14.9 % at extraction of 82.1 %. With application of calcium polysulphide as a sulphidizator the lead concentrate with the content of lead 68.0 % at extraction of 88.0 % was received. The content of cerussite has made 16.0 % at extraction of 85.0 %. Application of a new sulphidizator allows to increase extraction of lead in a concentrate from 64.4% to 68% and cerussite extraction – from 82.1 % to 85.0 %. The possibility of application of calcium polysulphide as a sulphidizator instead of conventional sulphurous sodium was established.

Jan 1, 2018

By W. Krieglstein

Due to the natural variability of ores, it is necessary to carefully test flotation behavior of flotation cells before designing flotation circuits. For performing quick and versatile tests in the laboratory, Siemens developed a laboratory-size Hybrid Flotation Cell, which has been down-scaled from the 300 m³/h production cell to a 0.6 m³/h flotation cell. This small cell is being used as a test bed for technical and chemical concepts, the improvement of decisive components and the characterization of customer ores. In this study the evaluation results for Andean porphyry copper ores are shown. Total recovery rates of the order of 45 to 50 % have routinely been achieved in a single flotation cycle over a wide range of feed grades. In addition, the Hybrid Flotation Cell has proven to be particularly well suited for the flotation of fine particles below 20 µm down to below 1 µm, at high recovery rates and concentrate grades.

Sep 1, 2012

By Xiqing Wu, Tao Yue

"Magnetic seeding co-agglomeration, i.e. adding magnetic seeds, organic depressant (such as the starch), and pre-magnetization for co-agglomeration, was applied in the reverse flotation for hematite ore slimes. Samples of the hematite ore slimes and the pure hematite fines were investigated by the co-agglomeration, respectively. Flotation tests suggest that the depressing effect of starch in the flotation was further enhanced with the addition of magnetic seeds and the pre-magnetization. Following the laser size analysis and flotation tests, TOC adsorption analysis, VSM, surface charge measurement, AFM, FTIR study, and SEM imaging have been utilized to understand the depressing mechanism. Based on the results it was demonstrated that with the addition of magnetic seeds and the low field pre-magnetization, the adsorption of starch onto hematite minerals was strengthened through the magnetic seeding co-agglomeration. The co-agglomeration improved the flotation performance by introducing the magnetic interactions and acting the bridging adsorption of starch between fine hematite and magnetic seeds in a suspension, and then resulting in an intensified coverage of the starch onto hematite particles and positive action in the coagglomeration under the pre-magnetization.INTRODUCTIONFlotation is undoubtedly the most important and versatile mineral processing technique, and both its use and application are continually being expanded to treat greater tonnages and to cover new area. However, its influence was limited to a relatively narrow particle size range of 5–300 µm (Wills and Napier-Munn, 2006). The main reason behind this limitation lies in that fine particles have high specific surface area, so need relatively high dosage of reagents (collectors or depressants), and exhibit poor flotation performance while intermediate or properly-sized particles produce high flotation kinetics and need low consumption of reagents. In order to increase the recovery of fine particles, quite a few of flotation techniques have been investigated. Most of them are based on particle aggregation, namely, by enlarging the apparent particle size, such as carrier flotation (Valderrama and Rubio, 1998; Zhu et al., 2009), shear flocculation (Duzyola and Ozkan, 2010; Yin et al., 2011), selective polymer flocculation (Rubio et al., 2007; Song et al., 2012; Ng et al., 2015), oil agglomeration (Laskowski and Lopez- Vladivieso, 2004; Forbes, 2011), temperature responsive polymer flocculation flotation (Forbes et al, 2011), and etc. However, these techniques above-mentioned are mainly studied for the direct flotation of fine minerals, and most of these techniques have not found applications for iron ore slimes especially recovered by the reverse cationic or anionic flotation."

Jan 1, 2018

By Danfeng Xu

The majority of the world?s nickel (Ni) resources occur as laterite ores, which are exceptionally complex, lower grade (<1.5% Ni) and expensive to treat using conventional smelting and high temperature/pressure autoclave methods. Heap leaching is a promising, less costly, alternative technology for processing low grade nickel laterite ores. However, significant technical challenges remain with Nickel laterite heap leaching, preventing its general adoption. This paper presents some highlights of laboratory column leaching studies undertaken to characterise, evaluate and optimise sulphuric acid leaching behaviour of Nickel laterite agglomerates. They provide basic but valuable information regarding Nickel laterite agglomerate structure stability and leaching performance under industrially-relevant, continuous acid irrigation conditions. In particular, Nickel and other key metals? (e.g. Co, Fe, Al and Mn) extraction rates, free acid concentration, bed slump and structural changes were determined at a given acid percolation rate as a function of time. Potential implications of the findings, for devising strategies for improved Nickel laterite plant heap leach operations are discussed. Keywords: nickel laterite, column leaching, agglomerates, leaching kinetics, acid consumption

Sep 1, 2012

By Dongyun Liang

Process mineralogy focuses on the chemical components and mineral composition of ore, dissemination size of valuable minerals, the occurrence of valuable and detrimental elements as well as the behavior of each mineral in the process. Through determining process mineralogy parameters and analyzing the characteristics of minerals, the results of process mineralogy study can provide mineralogy data for making a reasonable mineral processing technology program and optimizing the process. A detailed process mineralogy study is carried out for a complex rare metal ore in this paper and the results show that niobium mainly exists in the form of ferrocolumbite as well as nioboaeschynite and zirconium primarily occurs as zircon. The valuable minerals including Th-nioboaeschynite, ferrocolumbite, zircon, etc. have the characteristics of fine dissemination size, wide size range, complex chemical composition and variable physical properties, which mean it is a refractory ore. According to the results of mineral composition of ore, chemical composition of minerals, dissemination size of minerals, magnetism ranges of minerals and the distribution of niobium and zirconium, the process of ?desliming-Nb-Zr bulk flotation? is designed for this ore and the niobium-zirconium bulk rough concentrate with the grade of Nb2O5 9.43%, ZrO2 24.95%, Ta2O5 0.36% and the recovery of Nb2O5 77.66%, ZrO2 76.70%, Ta2O5 75.13% to crude ore can be obtained in the whole process closed-circuit test.

Sep 1, 2012

By O. Kökkilic

This study covers the tests to develop separation process for production of clay and colemanite rich concentrates, and aims to serve the clay and colemanite concentrates extracted from the tailing dams to the industrial applications. For this purpose, samples from the tailing dams in Kestelek Boron Plant (Turkey) with an average B2O3 content of 8%~11 % were subjected to the investigations. The separation process of hydrocyclone--to make clear the way to obtain either clean clay or cole-manite--was initially discussed. Therefore, following the gentle scrubbing (to keep the bimodal size distribution between clay and colemanite) of the tailings to disperse the slurry, two alternative multistage hydrocyclone processes; allowing to recycling the overflows or underflows to concentrate clay and colemanite were respectively tested. As a result of the preliminary tests, the multistage hydrocyclone separation in direction to the clean colemanite concentrates (recycling the underflows) gave the better separation efficiencies. So, all the parameters such as apex and vortex finder diameters and feeding pressures were examined with the multistage hydrocyclone process allowing the recycling the underflows. The detailed multistage hydrocyclone separation process of the tailing dam wastes yielded with colemanite concentrates (approx. 12 % of the feed, w/w) with B2O3 content of 35.0 % and the clay concentrates (approx. 42 % of the feed, w/w) with B2O3 content of 2.1 %. Colemanite concentrates were found good enough either to re-feed in to the separation process or to keep upgrading for final product ready to use in Industry whereas the attempts on production of light bricks from clay concentrates has failed. But it is worth to point out that these clay concentrates can be used for agricultural purposes just in the form as it is.

Jan 1, 2014

By M. Saghaeian, R. Hejazi, M. Mohammadinejad, M. Zare

"Water quality and quantity at the Tailing Thickening Section of processing plants is considered to be a crucial factor and impacts the performance of several sections. Therefore, gaining stable and effective performance at the Tailing Thickener Section is one of the principal goals of minerals processing plants. Different factors such as: qualitative and quantitative sustainability of plant feed, the balance between the mass of input and output water flow, the dissolving method and distribution of flocculant and the amount of dirt, solid percent of thickener inlet pulp, affect the performance of Tailing Thickener. The present study investigates the successful improvement of Tailing Thickener performance at Jalal Abad Hematite Iron Ore Concentrate plant through optimizing the above operational parameters. For this purpose, the following optimizations have been done: homogeneity and sustainability of plant input feed rates, fine pulp removal collected by the bag filters at the input of the thickener, adding an quietness box before moving the tail pulp into the thickener to reduce the pulp turbulence, replacing flocculant pump and injection pipes, improving water mass balance which leads to optimizing and stabilizing the concentration of input tail pulp into the thickener, adding a mixer to increase the flocculant preparation time, increasing the locations for adding flocculant to thickener from 1 point to 6 points. Applying the above modifications and monitoring the Tailing Thickener performance over the course of months, has led to the improvement of recovered water quality from 500 ppm to 200 ppm, increasing the solid underflow of the thickener from 40% to 48.5%, and similarly, reducing water loss by 60%. Of other important effects, due to improvement of water quality, grade of final concentrate 0.5% increased and because of 73% increase in monthly working hour, concentrate tonnage 55% increased. Finally, sludge thickener optimization has had a significant effect in selecting and designing the dewatering system from the underflow of the sludge thickener."

Jan 1, 2018

By A. S. Chekmarev, T. Z. Lygina, K. G. Egorova, A. V. Skvorcov

"We have conducted analytical and technological evaluation of sepiolite containing clay. The possible areas of application of the sepiolite have been investigated and complex methods of enrichment of natural sepiolite have been identified. It was determined that for preserving the structure of minerals after processing the most effective method of the natural agglomerates disintegration was the soft abrasion of the clay fraction up to 0,5 mm. Disintegration of sepiolite clay along with using high energy-stressed effects on the matrix can deteriorate the rheological properties of clay suspensions and reduce the yield of drilling mud and sorption properties. To improve the quality of clay powders we used combined gravity-modifying method of wet enrichment. After the wet enrichment the yield of drilling mud increased up to 12.7 m3/t, with the addition of MgO up to 20,3 m3/t. It was noted that drilling muds contenting more than 50% of sepiolite are stable in mineralized (salt) waters. Based on the studied activated sepiolite rocks we obtained the effective heat-insulating materials with relatively low thermal conductivity – 0,165 W/m·K, average strength – 7,29 MPa and water absorption-49,0%.INTRODUCTION The modern development of the Russian economy requires the implementation of scientific and technical tasks. The solutions of it involves a radical reduction in energy, heat losses and material consumption of products, rational and efficient using of all types of resources, as well as the using of new types of mineral raw materials and materials based on it. An example of a new type of mineral raw materials for Russia is sepiolite containing rocks, due to unconventional conditions for their soils accumulation in the climate of the Far North. Sepiolite is a unique type of nonmetallic mineral. It is formed in soils, marine and saline basins, occurs in carbonate and carbonate-clay rocks in the form of lenses and lens – shaped layers, rarely nodules, loose powdery masses, shell-like concretions. Sepiolite may have a soft porous macroscopic appearance or less often the structure of the fibrous mass. Color of sepiolite is from white to cream with gray, green, pink and even crimson shade depending on the degree of pollution. Sepiolite can be in two forms - a-sepiolite (parasepiolite), which occurs in the form of large packets of crystalline fibers and ß-sepiolite, which occurs in the form of amorphous aggregates or small flat rounded particles. The sepiolite fibers have a length of from 0.2 to 2 Å, width from 100 to 300 Å, the thickness from 50 to 100 Å (Geological dictionary, 1973)."

Jan 1, 2018

By E. V. Zelinskaya, V. U. Starostina

"The Irkutsk region is a raw material region. There are a lot of big enterprises for extraction and processing of oil, gas, coal, iron, gold and rock salt. Besides of it, refractory clays, limestone, mica, gypsum and talc are mined in the region. The most important type of mineral raw material is a gold. More than 8.5% of the total mining in the Russian Federation is extracted in Irkutsk region. It is about 0.7% of the world production. The environmental problems of mining and processing enterprises are a complex set of issues that requires of the searching of effective methods to be solved. One of the key environmental problems remains the reduction of waste generation and the introduction of environmentally safe waste management. After analysing different methods of environmental impact assessment it is established that the method of Life Cycle Assessment is one of the most effective methods for mining production. This method base? on the material balance of flows of raw materials, products and waste. The method of Life Cycle Assessment allows to identify the effects of environmental pollution under the influence of mining and processing at a quantitative level and to show real quantitative forecasts of the possibility of managing the flows of raw materials and waste.INTRODUCTION The Irkutsk region is a raw material region. There are a lot of big enterprises for extraction and processing of oil, gas, coal, iron, gold and rock salt. Besides of it, refractory clays, limestone, mica, gypsum and talc are mined in the region. The most important type of mineral raw material is a gold. More than 8.5% of the total mining in the Russian Federation is extracted in Irkutsk region. It is about 0.7% of the world production. The main provider of precious metal is the Bodaibo region. This is a main location for the major ore companies such as “Vysochaishy”, which produces about 5.0 tons a gold per year; “Pervenets”(PJSC Polyus, the largest gold producer in Russia) - 4.5 tons/year, “Druza” - 0, 5 tons/year. Placer gold is extracted by more than 40 enterprises. In connection with this, there are many plans about a building of new and reconstruction of concentrating factories. Consequently, an increase in the volume of processing is expected. The main projects are the construction of a new mill of the Mining and processing plant GOK “Vysochaishy” with a capacity of 2.6 million tonnes of ore per year; the development of the “Uhakhan” gold-field - 23 km from the “Goltsa Vysochaishy” gold-field; the opening in the Bodaibo region the next parts of the gold-deposit ""Pervenets"". Additional, the growth in a gold production can be achieved by a store of gold in the “Sukhoi Log” deposi"

Jan 1, 2018

By Ali Dehghani Ahmadabadi

Gravity separation technique is widely used in mineral beneficiation practices for its low cost, ease of operation, and eco-friendly nature. The most commonly used gravity methods for beneficiation of iron ores are shaking table, jig and spiral methods which aren&apos;t very effective for iron mineral fines. Multi-Gravity Separator (MGS) is suitable for the treatment of fines with a maximum particle size of approximately 500 µm. This study was performed on a low-grade haematite iron ore from Chadormalutailing dams. Detailed mineralogical, physical and chemical characteristics of a goethiticlateritic iron ore showed that the sample contained porous and friable oxides and hydroxides of iron. The ore sample had a feed grade of 35% Fe, 1.1% FeO, 15.5% SiO2 and 8.5% Al2O3. Haematite and goethite are the main iron-bearing minerals while quartzite and kaolinite are the major gangue mineral constituents. In this paper, the statistical evaluation and optimization of grade and recovery using a factorial design of experiment (DOE) method has been carried out for Chadormalulow grade ultra-fine haematite tailings with MGS. The input process parameters considered are drum speed, tilt angle, wash water flow rate and pulp density. The results show considerable improvements in both the quality characteristics such as grade and recovery with statistical evaluation and optimization, compared to the initial value of grade and recovery. Keywords: multi-gravity separator, mgs, statistical evaluation, optimization, haematite

Sep 1, 2012

By A. A. Remes

High precision on-line particle size distribution measurement of mineral slurries has recently be-come available. It provides new tools for the development of monitoring and optimization methods for mineral grinding and separation circuits. The paper presents the development work at the Kemi chromite concentrator plant of Outokumpu Tornio Works in Northern Finland. The Kemi concentrator processes annually 1.2 Mt of chromium ore. The products are upgraded lumpy ore and metallurgical grade concentrate. The concentrate is produced using gravity separation methods, preceded by a rod mill - ball mill grinding stage. The separation process performance is strongly dependent on the particle size distribution of the grinding product at the Kemi plant. Particle size distribution has a significant effect on the concentrate grade and recovery. Currently a new laser diffraction based on-line particle size analyser is used for monitoring the grinding product. The analyser system allows the measurement of the whole cumulative particle size distribution simultaneously. It provides a wealth of new measurement information for process control. A monitoring and optimization scheme for grinding and gravity separation based on the particle size information is presented. The goal is to minimize the production of fine slime, and subsequently to improve the concentrate quality and minimize chromite recovery losses. Data-based recursively identified linear PLS process models are developed for optimization purposes. The preliminary results of the monitoring system operation in on-line use are presented.

Jan 1, 2014

By Pramila Misra, Jibardhan Meher, Debadutta Das

The concentrated coal-water slurry has been receiving considerable attention recently due its ability to replace fossil fuels. Attainment of stable and concentrated slurry has been succeeded so far through several physical and chemical techniques. The present article reports the formulation and stabilization of a highly concentrated coal-water slurry formed from five varieties of non-coking coals with variable ash contents obtained from Eastern part of India, employing three varieties of starch esters, such as starch benzoate, starch formate, and starch carbamate as dispersant. The apparent viscosity of the modified coal-water slurry has been measured by varying coal loading, dispersant percentage, pH, temperature, etc. The apparent viscosity of the slurry has been found to be decreased substantially on addition of 0.8% of adsorbate in the slurry. The particle-particle interaction has been considerably decreased and stable concentrated coal-water slurry containing high weight fraction of coal (61.5-63.5%) has been achieved in each case. The slurries stay in a non-settling form for about a month with viscosity in a permissible low range. The coal-water slurry has been found to behave as a non-Newtonian liquid. Comparison of the zeta potentials of the naked and modified coals evidences that adsorption of the dispersants at coal-water interface results in inhibition of the agglomeration of coal particles through mostly steric repulsions.

Jan 1, 2014

Large quantities of electrical and electronic equipments are discarded at the end-of-life (EOL) in different industries and house hold applications. Their disposal is creating a challenging environmental problem due to the presence of hazardous metals and non-metallic materials such as epoxy resins and plastics including brominated flame retardants etc particularly in printed circuit boards (PCBs). The recovery valuable metals and separation of hazardous materials from discarded PCBs will not only conserve the resources but also mitigate the environmental pollution. From a recycling point of view for a sustainable society, the studies have been carried out for the recovery of metal values from EOL-PCBs of DVD video players (DVD-PCBs) and vacuum cleaners (VC-PCBs) using physical beneficiation techniques. The concentration of the metals was found to be 43 wt.% and 30 wt.% in DVD-PCBs and VC-PCBs, respectively. Both the PCBs samples were ground in a hammer mill after cutting and their size analysis was carried out. The liberation of the metallic and non-metallic fractions was investigated under the microscope for different size fractions. Subsequently, froth flotation and pneumatic air separation studied were carried out to enrich the metallic constituents. The studies showed the enrichment of metals in coarser particles (-1000 +150 µm) and non-metals in the finer particles -150 µm following mechanical recycling process. A grade of 90 % with 75% recovery was achieved by froth flotation, but lower grade and recovery of 75% and 65% respectively were obtained by pneumatic separation with -1500 µm powders for DVD-PCBs. A grade of 86% metal was obtained by froth flotation with 76% recovery in the case of VC-PCBs. The lower grade of 65% with almost same recovery was achieved during pneumatic separation studies due to lower concentration of metals in VC-PCBs. The studies also showed that the froth flotation is an efficient process for enrichment of metals from both the samples. The process is environmental friendly as no chemicals are employed during entire processing. The higher recovery and grade of metal is expected to be obtained on a large scale beneficiation process.

Sep 1, 2012

By S. K. Chaudhuri

With a growing emphasis on maximizing the value by rapidly deploying it across their assets, mining firms are eager to identify any issues that may hinder such efforts and to refine their approaches to overcome them. As such a CDE vision can be considered realized when the following components are addressed and functioning as intended - People: the right resources working together and efficiently to achieve shared goals, Process: well-defined workflows mapped out for key value processes, Technology: availability of the correct tools and applications to increase efficiency in work execution and Locations: regional locations/ sites that need to be linked for collaboration and information exchange. For the above vision, an approach that considers the degree of interaction between the roles in metallurgy operations, mineral resource planning, mine engineering, plant operations, logistics and infrastructure, and which accounts for the current technology states across these groups to determine sub-processes where the impact of a CDE will be the most is critical. In effect, CDE is more about transforming an organization?s operational philosophy than a technology driven project. This paper examines the definition and components of a CDE in a mining context. Real-time operations co-ordination, maintenance interventions, production analysis and optimization processes are examined along with current state technologies and manual processes as candidates which are likely to result in most benefits from collaborative work processes. Finally, the paper examines technologies that can be used to further enable a collaborative working environment.

Sep 1, 2012

By D. X. Chen

Comprehensive utilization of the copper associated with the complex lead and zinc sulphide ore is a recognized and difficult technical issue in ore dressing field. Qi Baoshan lead-zinc mine is a typical complex copper-lead-zinc polymetallic ore deposit and difficult to process. The application of the. traditional process is not able to make the substantive progress. According to its mineralogical characteristics, the association of copper minerals with lead minerals is very close, and their particle sizes are very fine, and the copper and lead minerals are partially oxidized. Based on the laboratory tests and comparison between different process flowsheets, preferential flotation of copper minerals, being suitable for this ore, was chosen to recover copper. The separation of copper from lead applies the following technology: regrinding middlings with cyclones to classify, which improves copper lead mineral liberation, and increases copper and lead recovery; using new high-efficient collector with good selectivity, which is able to float copper minerals; and non-toxic combined depressant which depresses lead minerals. The above technical innovation, optimizing the process flowsheet, overcoming the complex traditional process flow with high production cost, obtained good technical and economic indicator. The difficult technical problem of copper lead separation was solved smoothly. After successful performance of the bench-scale experiment, commercial-scale test was carried out. In industrial trial, a copper concentrate containing Cu18.60 %, Pb7.40 % and Zn2.50 % was obtained with copper recovery of 58.49%, lead concentrate quality improved largely. The process opened up an unique path for the comprehensive recovery of Cu from similar lead and zinc non-ferrous metals mineral to comprehensively recover copper.

Jan 1, 2014

By J. Faitli

The Lake Balaton is the biggest and for many reasons the most important lake in Hungary. To preserve its healthy nature it is necessary to remove the accumulated mud time to time, similarly to the many living waters, lakes and rivers everywhere. Typical existing technologies (mechanical, hydraulic) require large depositional areas, where the removed slurry and mud is dewatered through very long time. One problem is the non existence of an economical mud thickening technology. Another major problem is that current methods remove the sand fraction with the mud as well. Many times sand has to be complemented from outer sources to endanger the natural balance of the living water. By the financial support of the NKFP 3A/068/2004 Hungarian Research Project our consortium has been looking for the solution to the above mentioned problems. The original ideas of the project were: 1. Sand should be separated and returned to the water by hydrocyclon; 2. New mud thickener should be developed based on the principle that vibrating rods can force settling and packing of mud particles. The work was started by fundamental research with different samples from Lake Balaton and River Bodrog. An automated settling column (45L) has been built for the investigation of the effect of vibrating rods on the settling behavior of suspensions. An optical sensor has been developed by with the settling curve (height of settling slurry as function of time) can be automatically measured. Different vibrating methods and parameters have been tested by the application of a linear motor and mechanical eccentric drive. On the basis of the fundamental research a new thickener, called the rod ? lamella thickener has been developed and an industrial size (50m3/h) mud removing technology has been built. Main parts of the technology are the traditional dredging barge and the thickening technology. The thickening and sand separation technology is tugged by the dredging ship. Its main elements are the homogenization tank, slurry pump, hydrocyclon and the rod ? lamella thickener. In this unit lamellas carry out pre-thickening, then vibrating rods further increase the concentration. The thickened mud is transported out by a screw - of which revolution number is precisely controlled - against a spring supported valve. Paper reports about the design, building, water probe and on-site tests of this mud removing technology. Two new patents had been presented, one is about the rod ? lamella thickener and the other is about the mud removing technology with sand separation.

Jan 1, 2014

By D. Endara, E. De la Torre, S. Echeverria

"The study was conducted with the sulfide mineral from the province of Zamora Chinchipe. It was characterized physical, chemical and mineralogical, obtaining between its main results a copper concentration of head ore of 0,58 %. The mineral was homogenized and taken to direct closed circuit: rollers mill - vibratory sieve (mesh # 16). Flotation was carried out in two stages: the collective and selective where in each one were performed 6 water recirculation as suggested by the technique used to relate information of a batch flotation to a continuous circuit called cyclic flotation tests (LCT). In the collective flotation (bulk) 2 Kg of mineral were grinded with 10 Kg of balls for 30 minutes and 62.5% of solids, the pulp was taken to the flotation process with solids percentages of 33.3% and pH 7, it was conditioned with 45 g / t of KAX 1%, 50 g/t of Aerofloat 208 and 20 g /t of Pine oil. The concentrate and tailings bulk obtained were filtered separately for the recovery of water and it was recirculated to the next grinding of 2kg mineral. In the selective flotation 1Kg of bulk concentrate was carried to regrind for 40 min, 62.5% percent of solids, 10 g of lime and 5 g of tannin FLOATAN T5, the pulp was taken to the roughing-collection-refining flotation circuit controlling the pH between 10.5 and 11 where conditioning (60 g/t of Aerofloat 208 and 30 g/t of Pine oil) and adding lime to the circuit and FLOATAN according to the procedure. The four fractions obtained from the circuit were filtered; the water was recirculated to the regrind process of the bulk concentrate. In the collective flotation process tends to stability in the fourth recirculating water to obtain a copper content of 4.5% and a recovery of 87%, recirculated water represents 69.8% of all water used in the 6 recycles. In the selective flotation circuit the fifth recirculating of water is the optimal where obtaining a copper content of 13% and a recovery of 72%, recirculated water in the selective flotation circuit represents 95% of the total water used in the 6 recycles."

Jan 1, 2018