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By L. A. Cornish, L. H. Chown, M. Matema, R. Süss, L. Glaner, A. Douglas

Mintek has been developing Pt-based alloys for high temperature applications in aggressive environments, for example, land-based turbine engines, to replace the currently used nickel-based superalloys (NBSAs). The Pt-based alloys have a similar structure to the NBSAs, and since Pt is more chemically inert and has a higher melting point, the Pt-based alloys can potentially be used at higher temperatures. The greater chemical inertness of the Pt-based alloys compared to the NBSAs means that coatings can be simpler, or perhaps not even used at all, depending on the environment. TEM work was done at NIMS, Japan, to investigate the changes in the microstructure o f Pt-Al and Pt-Al-Ir alloys at elevated temperatures using in-situheating up to1100°C. Initial casting trials showed that work needs to be done to optimise casting parameters before commercialisation can take place. Room temperature tensile tests were performed and results were variable mainly due to microstructural differences. The alloy hardnesses were in the order of 300-350HV with ultimate tensile strengths of ~800 MPa and elongations of less than 10%. These results are comparable to other alloys used at high temperatures, which is very encouraging. Keywords: platinum, super alloys, hardness, tensile

Jan 1, 2006

By L. Makua, K. Langa, Ndlovu. S., C. Saguru

"Global demand for the three platinum group metals (PGMs) Pt, Pd, and Rh has been steadily growing due to their widespread use in emission control, industrial catalysis, and numerous other applications. The primary supply of PGMs is currently the mining industry. However, legislative, operational, and environmental challenges faced by many mining operations result in erratic supply patterns and deficits for these three metals. Naturally, recycling scrap material to recover Pt, Pd, and Rh has therefore aroused research interest in the scientific and engineering communities. Given that the majority of the global demand for these three metals is driven by emission control devices, autocatalytic converters are therefore a significant source of already processed and beneficiated PGMs for recycling.Although pyrometallurgical processes dominate the recycling industry, hydrometallurgical processes may offer certain advantages, chief among these being lower emissions and reduced energy consumption. In this investigation, scrap converter material was leached in acidic chloride media and the leach liquor subjected to solvent extraction and cloud point extraction (CPE) to recover the PGMs. The recoveries for Pt and Pd using Alamine 308® dissolved in kerosene with decanol as a modifier were 95% and 81%, respectively. The maximum recoveries using CPE after complexation with 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (2-MBT) in the presence of Triton X-100 and tin (II) chloride dihydrate as a reductant were 97% for Pd, 96% for Pt, and 91% for Rh. This demonstrates that CPE, although relatively new, may have some potential as a breakthrough PGM recovery technology. IntroductionPlatinum group metals (PGMs) have found a wide variety of applications in different industries due to their chemical, catalytic, and physical properties. PGMs are essential in automobile emission abatement, petroleum refining, and the pharmaceutical and electrical industries (Carabias-Martinez et al., 2000). However, the abundance of PGMs in the Earth’s crust is low and their primary sources are fast depleting (Crundwell et al., 2011).The high demand for PGMs, together with social, economic, environmental, and political aspects related to their production, has led to concerns about their future supply. This has resulted in renewed interest in recycling end-of-life material. PGM supply from recycling has doubled over the last decade, and currently contributes 22% to global supply (Johnson Matthey, 2016). This is in part due to the environmental, social, and operational challenges associated with mining of PGMs. For example, labour unrest, energy cuts, declining commodity prices, and declining ore grades have collectively made the mining landscape economically challenging (KPMG, 2015). On the other hand, the high content of PGMs in secondary sources makes their recovery from the increasing quantities of waste products important from a resource conservation viewpoint. Moreover, PGMs obtained through recycling have been demonstrated to have a 1% environmental cost from a life-cycle perspective, whereas PGMs obtained from mining contribute the remaining 99% of environmental cost (Bossi and Gediga, 2017). Sustainable resource recovery and the economic incentive of recycling have therefore been major drivers to justify investment in PGM recycling. The autocatalytic converter industry accounts for about 70% of the global consumption of these metals (Johnson Matthey, 2016) and therefore recycling spent converters has become a major source of Pt, Pd, and Rh (Figure 1)."

May 1, 2019

By M. Weir, J. R. Cutland, L A. J. Pronk van Hoogeveen

"A computer system for the design of open pits to mine stratiform orebodies has been developed for use at Nchanga Consolidated Copper Mines, Ltd. The particular requirements of such a system, for example, the accuracy of representation of geological detail and the ability to follow footwalls, arc described in this paper, together with the methods that have been adopted to satisfy them.A modified version of the Open Pit Design Program of Rio Tinto Zinc Consultants, Ltd. is incorporated in the system and the geological data are converted into a form usable by the computer by means of a pencil follower. Some of the uses which have been made of the system are described, with reference to the long- and medium-term planning of the Nchanga Open Pit, the major producing pit at Chingola Division."

Jan 1, 2014

By K. Wu, X. Yuan, R. Du, C. Chao

"Lump coals are currently employed to replace part of coke in the COREX melter-gasifier for ironmaking. In order to optimize the process, the pyrolysis kinetics of Datong coal used in the COREX process was studied. A sectioning method is proposed to overcome certain shortcomings of traditional methods for studying the pyrolysis of coal. Based on the sectioning method and the characteristics of the coal pyrolysis process, the temperature range was divided into three intervals. In the first, the adsorbed gas and water of crystallization were removed; in the second, the coal was transformed into semi-coke; and finally, the semi-coke was further coked. Three models of reaction were then established to study the different stages of the pyrolysis process: an interfacial chemical reaction model, a random pore model, and internal diffusion with shrinking volume. The results showed that the experimental data fitted the models well, with all correlation coefficients (r2) exceeding 0.97. Finally, the mechanisms of reaction and kinetic parameters for each temperature range were derived, which laid a necessary foundation for optimizing the usage of non-coking coal in the COREX process. IntroductionIn view of environmental concerns and the shortage of good-quality coking coal, the COREX process was designed as a new ironmaking technology, attracting wide attention (Fang et al., 2005). In this process, lump coal and a small quantity of coke are directly charged into the melter-gasifier, where a high-quality reducing gas is generated for the reduction of the iron ore (Kumar et al., 2009). In contrast to the conventional blast furnace (BF) process, non-coking lump coal is used as the reducing agent and as the energy source, and the iron charge consists of lump ore and/or pellets, which results in the elimination of the coke oven and sintering plant as well as a decrease in investment (Kumar et al., 2009; Liu et al., 2012).Although the COREX process has made great progress, in current production practice the energy consumption greatly exceeds that of the BF, and it requires a certain amount of coke to maintain permeability of the semi-coke bed (Wang et al., 2008). In addition, the process consumes a lot of good-quality lump ore and lump coal. The pyrolysis of coal is the first step in most coal conversion processes, such as carbonization, gasification, and combustion (Aboyade et al., 2013). The reaction behaviour of lump coals in the COREX melter-gasifier is crucial, as it determines energy utilization and gas composition, as well as the metallurgical properties and particle size of the semi-coke produced (Prachethan et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2014). In order to optimize the process and improve its competitiveness, the pyrolysis kinetics of Datong coal used in Baosteel’s COREX C-3000 facility was studied."

Jan 1, 2016

By E. Schoeman

Ion exchange resins were investigated for the effective recovery of platinum, palladium, and gold from a pregnant cyanide heap leach solution. Screening results indicated that strong-base anion exchange resins proved to be most effective in the recovery of these metal cyanides. Gold was selectively recovered with the use of Minix, while effective recovery of gold, platinum, and palladium over the base metals, copper, and iron, was achieved with Amberlite PWA-5. Successful elution of these metal cyanides was possible from both Minix and Amberlite PWA-5, using a 2M potassium thiocyanate solution at ambient temperature. Acidic thiourea was unable to elute platinum from either Minix or Amberlite PWA-5. Effective elution of palladium and gold were, however, achieved with use of acidic thiourea. Using these results, two conceptual flow diagrams for the recovery of these metals from cyanide solutions are proposed.

Jan 1, 2012

By D. Chetty

Process mineralogy forms an integral part of geometallurgy, with ore body characterisation being but one piece of the puzzle in optimising value derived from ore. This value is not only financial, but importantly speaks to sustainability from environmental and social standpoints. The reactive approach of traditional process mineralogy is increasingly being replaced by predictive methods in the geometallurgical sphere, for which mineralogical information must be timeously acquired on judiciously selected sample sets to understand ore variability and its impact on orebody processing. Such processes are not only metallurgical, but must incorporate mining and waste management protocols. Dwindling resources like water and energy also demand innovative approaches for lowering consumption and/or promoting recycling along the value chain. Addressing such challenges relies on appropriate characterisation of ore behaviour under different process regimes. Coupled with this, emerging characterisation tools are increasingly applied to understand the mineralogy of unconventionallypresented and difficult-to-process ores to meet societal and technology demands. Such tools are often accompanied by the generation of large, computationally intensive datasets, for which data management and storage are key requirements, particularly when deciphering temporal trends in ore and process variability. This paper will elaborate on these themes with examples that highlight the importance of process mineralogy throughout the minerals value chain. Keywords: Process mineralogy, ore characterisation, geometallurgy

Jan 1, 2020

By N. A. Sithole, S. A. C. Hockaday, P. J. A. Bezuidenhout

The Northern Cape Province in South Africa has high levels of annual direct normal solar irradiance and reserves of zinc (Zn) ores. The question arises as to the benefits of integrating renewable solar energy into the beneficiation routes of these reserves. The paper evaluates a novel flowsheet for the production and beneficiation of Zn in this region, maximising localised solar energy as a source for both electricity and process heat. Solar variability is discussed and the cost and benefits of thermal storage in the flowsheets are evaluated by its influence on the levelised costs of electricity and process energy over the project life-time at a possible implementation site. The results of the developed scoping model showed that solar photovoltaic integration to provide electricity for electrowinning without battery storage can lead to more than 10% cost saving on electricity over the lifetime of the project. Additional savings potential was identified when battery storage was included to enable the solar PV system to supply electricity during peak tariff periods. The solar thermal case showed the most promise with savings of 70% on heating costs for casting, while solar PV electricity without storage resulted in a 16% cost saving on heating for casting over the lifetime of the project. Solar PV electricity generation resulted in the avoidance of more than 20% of CO2 emissions from grid electricity use. Solar thermal heating can avoid up to 80% of the CO2 emissions associated with grid electricity use for remelting of Zn cathodes for casting. The CO2 emissions are indirect and not subject to South African carbon tax. Keywords: Solar process energy, zinc beneficiation, flowsheet evaluation

Jan 1, 2020

By D. F. Malan, J. A. L. Napier

A number of shallow coal or hard rock mines employ pillar mining systems as a strategy for roof failure control. In certain platinum mine layouts, pillars are designed to ‘crush’ in a stable manner as they become loaded in the panel back area. The correct sizing of pillars demands some knowledge of the pillar strength and the overall layout stress distribution. It is particularly important to understand the impact of the layout geometry on the effective regional ‘stiffness’ of the rock mass around each pillar. An important design strategy is to model relatively detailed layout configurations which include a precise representation of the local pillar layout geometry and to analyse multiple mining scenarios and extraction sequences to select optimal pillar sizes and barrier pillar spacing. Although computational solution techniques are now impressive in terms of run time efficiency, a major difficulty is often encountered in assigning suitable material properties to the pillars and in devising an effective material description of the layered rock strata overlying the mine excavations. This paper outlines an efficient numerical strategy that can be used to assess large-scale pillar layout performance while retaining the ability to modify individual pillar constitutive behaviour. The proposed method is applied to selected layouts to compare estimated average pillar stress values against values determined by detailed modelling and against observed behaviour.

May 3, 2023

By M. E. Rossi, C. Badenhorst

Conditional bias occurs when the expected value of the true grade conditional on the estimated grade is not equal to the estimated grade. It is a quantification of how the average of estimates differs from the true value. Conditional bias is present in all resource estimates due to the unavoidable properties of kriging, and indeed all linear estimation (regression) methods. In a mining resource estimation context, the degree of conditional bias is dependent on the spacing of the conditioning data; more data leads to the expectation of less conditional bias This paper discusses conditional bias from two perspectives: 1. 2. Estimates seeking to eliminate, as much as possible, conditional bias; and Estimates that accept a larger amount of conditional bias in resource models, in order to achieve a specific outcome. The problem of conditional bias in estimation can only be fully appreciated if the objective or purpose of a resource model is understood. There are instances where conditional bias should be avoided because it is not reasonable to make decisions using estimates that are known to be wrong in expected value; for example, when making a final decision in grade control with respect to the destination of the material. In most instances in the mining resource estimation context, however, the estimated values will not be “final estimates”, but “interim estimates”, meaning that in the future more data will be obtained, and the ”interim estimate” will then be updated. In this context, the most useful resource model is an interim model that is able to predict the final model estimates, despite not having all the data available that will be collected in the future. This is the objective, for example, of a recoverable “long-term” model developed prior to operating a mine, for example at the feasibility stage. It attempts to predict the ore that a processing plant will receive, well into the future. In such cases, it can be unequivocally demonstrated that conditional bias is not only unavoidable, it is a necessity.

Sep 1, 2021

By S. J. van Wyk, A. S. H. Haagner, A. Abraha

Opencast coal mining is responsible for the greatest area of land disturbance across all of the commodity types in South Africa. Many thousands of hectares have been rehabilitated to date and, although rehabilitation performance is not always measured or reported, a significant database, spanning 24 years, has now been analysed to identify the main shortcomings holding back rehabilitation sustainability across the industry. Data from 48 different collieries with rehabilitation performance scores measured from 2000-2024 were analysed. A standardised assessment framework was implemented at all 48 collieries, focusing on aspects of land capability, soil fertility, landscape form and drainage, vegetation species composition and basal cover, implementation of maintenance programmes, and prevalence of invasive alien plants. The findings show that, although invasive species management, plant species composition, and plant basal cover are often adequate, the implementation of aftercare and maintenance programmes (influencing soil fertility) and deficiencies in overall landform design and drainage systems are most significant in preventing overall rehabilitation progression and self-sustainability. Integrating these during design and rehabilitation execution, followed by intensive maintenance (especially in the first five years post-topsoiling and seeding) will be key for the overall industry performance to improve to acceptable levels. The database is biased towards collieries that actually do undertake rehabilitation and that do measure it, hence the actual industry performance is likely worse than what is presented. Due to the substantial hectarages involved and the main post-mining land uses being grazing and crop production, the industry cannot afford to keep perpetuating deficiencies in achieving the foundational aspects of rehabilitation that would pave the way for sustained economic future use.

Apr 25, 2025

By M. M. Masood, G. Y. Raju, T. Verma

The inverse velocity method has proven to be an effective approach for predicting slope failures in surface mines by analysing displacement monitoring data. However, the accuracy of inverse velocity method predictions is significantly affected by instrumental noise and natural environmental variations, which influence the identification of different deformation stages. To enhance predictive accuracy, this study applies and evaluates three filtering techniques to velocity time series data: Exponential smoothing filter, short-term smoothing filter, long-term smoothing filter and also compares it to raw data (no filtering). A refined prediction framework, that is, filtered inverse velocity method analyser, is proposed to improve slope failure forecasting in surface mining operations. The results demonstrate that filter selection plays a crucial role in optimising failure time predictions, offering valuable insights for geotechnical monitoring and early warning systems in surface mines.

Sep 1, 2025

By P. J. Petit

"The complex planning required to achieve any planned production yields multiple and dissociated responses over the life of project (LOP). The customary decision-making process negates the possibilities of developing optimized and integral solutions from operating levels up to business and strategic levels. This results in an inefficient project or overall underperformance of the operation.In the project setting, disconnected trade-offs and improved performance studies become inadequate, because they are site-specific and use only a few comparative parameters. They are often based on a small data-set.Decisions taken to achieve overall objectives require the correct determination and dissemination of key performance indicators (KPIs). The KPIs indicate efficiency in operation, whereby the marginal rate of technical substitution corresponds to the rate of production. It is the necessary condition for optimization. Performance realization for sustainability follows optimization modelling, the latter often being presented with financial results such as business net present value (NPV). It considers techno-financial constraints and provides a strategic and aligned outlook of KPI decisions for an enhanced and integrated outcome.This paper explains a mining case study that is rendered efficient, and through business optimization (BO) short-term and sustainable targets are reached. Business optimization increases the NPV by 14.7%. This is achieved by challenging conventional decision-making associated with maximizing business value by including environmental externalities within the LOP."

Jan 1, 2016

By D. Skelton

The Renard kimberlite cluster is located in the Monts Otish region of Quebec, Canada. A Canadian National Instrument (NI) 43-101 compliant resource statement for the Renard kimberlites 2, 3, 4 and 9 and the Lynx kimberlite dyke was first issued in 2008 followed by a Preliminary Economic Assessment and the development of a conceptual mine plan. Following a successful drill program in 2009 that greatly expanded the amount of kimberlite in Renard 2, a revised resource statement was issued in December 2009 comprising 23 million carats of Indicated Mineral Resources and 13 million carats of Inferred Mineral Resources, a threefold increase on the previous estimate. The project is currently the focus of a second Preliminary Economic Assessment and it is expected that a full feasibility and permitting program will commence in 2010 leading to the creation of Quebec's first diamond mine by 2013.

Jan 1, 2010

By J. O. Claassen

"Homogeneous populations are required to perform descriptive, probabilistic, and inference statistics and to support stable, predictable mining operations. The geological and downstream processing environments are, however, highly heterogeneous. The complex nature of mining environments requires means to identify and define multipopulation environments that could affect the performance of mining value chains. A study performed at several operating mines suggests that the impact of heterogeneous or variable geological, mining, and plant processing environments on overall mining value chain performance may not be a key focus area at these operations. This was illustrated through the use of basic and spatial statistics, which included the log-probability plot, a modified range equation, and chronovariography. The findings reflect high relative variability in the geological and processing environments studied and mining operators’ inability to effectively deal with the sources and consequences of variability. The study suggests that a focus on heterogeneity in complex mining operations may significantly enhance overall mining performance. IntroductionHeterogeneity and why it mattersHeterogeneity refers to a state or quality of being variable/diverse and comprising different non-compatible elements or parts. In statistical terms a heterogeneous population can refer to a population comprising different non-compatible sub-populations or a multipopulation environment. The latter is commonly found in natural environments such as geological environments (Bardossy and Fodor, 2001). The inherent heterogeneity of complex geological environments is also referred to as spatial heterogeneity. Heterogeneity or variability, however, also occurs over time at mining operations. A case in point is variable ore composition on a conveyance system feeding a processing plant or product stockpile.Heterogeneity associated with the mining environment can significantly influence key aspects of day-to-day mining operations such as sampling, the use of descriptive, probabilistic, and inference calculations, and an operation’s ability to manage and control the mining value chain as a whole."

Jan 1, 2016

By P. Leeuw, H. Mtegha

"The aim of this paper is to enhance the understanding of the nature of mining input technologies in the South African mining industry. In the context of this research, mining inputs refer to input technology into the activities in mining engineering fields, which include mining-related production activities, rock engineering, mine ventilation, and mine transportation (handling of personnel, material, broken rock, and pumping). Input technologies in supporting fields such as geology, other engineering disciplines, human resource, procurement, finance, as well as downstream fields that include metallurgy, and marketing of minerals, were disregarded.The mining input technologies were divided into 12 nodes, and data from a sample of 150 first-tier mining suppliers was analysed. It was found that, in general, there is a high local content in mining input technologies, particularly as regards technical support services, artefacts, and machine technologies. This points to the presence of mining-induced backward linkages in the South African mining industry. The majority (83%) of companies that provide input technologies into mining are located in Gauteng Province, and relatively few are found in provinces where mining is concentrated such as North-West, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and Free State. IntroductionSouth Africa is well endowed with minerals, with more than fifty different minerals being mined throughout the country. For this and other reasons, mining is one of the crucial pillars in the South African economy and its importance is well documented (Robinson and von Below, 1990; Creamer, 2010; Department of Mineral Resources, 2015). In 2013, South Africa was the largest global producer of chromium, ferrochrome, platinum group metals (PGMs), and vermiculite and the second largest global producer of antimony, manganese, titanium, and vanadium (Chamber of Mines of South Africa, 2014). In 2013, the mining industry contributed 6.7% to South Africa’s GDP and was the fifth largest sector in the economy, as shown in Figure 1."

Jan 1, 2016

By J. H. Zietsman, S. Maharajh, J. Muller

In the chlorination process for TiO2 pigment production, blends of titania feedstocks such as ilmenite, synthetic rutile (SR), natural rutile, upgraded slag, and chloride-grade slag are reacted with coke and chlorine at a temperature of around 1000°C to form TiCl4, which is the main product, and other waste metal chlorides. TiCl4 is the main feed material for the TiO2 pigment-making process. Feeding different titania materials to the chlorinator affects the amounts of coke and chlorine required for the process, the amount of waste generated, waste disposal costs, the amount of TiCl4 produced, and bed build-up rates. These factors influence the value of the feedstock. Generally, a higher TiO2 feedstock is more valued since less waste is generated and less reagents are consumed. To quantify the impact of different feedstocks on the chlorinator, a techno-economic model was developed to describe the chlorination process and estimate process variables at steady state. This paper describes the development of the model and studies in which the model has been used to quantify the effects of using different feedstocks.

Jan 1, 2014

By C. Birch

"Mineral reserve statements as well as optimizing mine planning require a block model with grades for each mining block. A cut-off grade is determined by considering the mining costs as well as the expected revenue for each block. These grades are estimated using various techniques, but in reality there is uncertainty in the grade values. These uncertainties result in two types of error. A type I error is where material is classified as ore and mined, but the true value is below the cut-off grade and the material is therefore waste. This material constitutes dilution. The type II error is where material is estimated to be below the cut-off grade and is classified as waste, whereas the true grade is actually above the cut-off grade. This material is not mined and the value is lost.This research considers the value of the lost ore and the costs of dilution under various degrees of uncertainty. Simulation using @Risk and mixed integer linear programing (Excel Solver) is used in a financial optimizer model to maximize either profit or net present value. This is applied to four Witwatersrand tabular gold deposits to investigate the impact of block grade uncertainty on cut-off grades.When optimizing for profit, value may be added by adjusting the cutoff grade slightly downwards. When optimizing for NPV, value may be added by lowering the cut-off grade significantly for the lower discounting rates. At higher discount rates, the lowering of the cut-off grades should be reduced, and in some cases an increase in cut-off grade may be required. Each mine reacted differently to the optimization and thus there is no single rule that can be applied across all tabular Witwatersrand gold deposits."

Jan 1, 2017

By Z. Zhang, J. Niu, H. Wang, Y. Xu, J. Shi

Tribo-electrostatic separation is a promising method for effectively utiliing low-grade magnesite resources by removing quartz and improving the grade of magnesite. To determine the chargeto- mass ratios of pure magnesite and quartz, a triboelectric measurement system was employed, and a laboratory tribo-electrostatic separation system was used to separate low-grade magnesite. The results showed that the maximum difference in charge-to-mass ratio between pure magnesite and quartz particles was observed after friction with polyvinyl chloride. The grade and recovery of magnesite increased with temperature and initially increased with increasing voltage, feed rate, and air flowrate before gradually decreasing. The optimal conditions resulted in a concentrate with 46.91% MgO content and 77.36% recovery, while the quartz content decreased from 7.02% to 1.95%. These experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and potential of tribo-electrostatic separation in removing quartz and upgrading magnesite.

Apr 14, 2024

By M. A. Reuter, N. J. Bartie

Metals make modern societies function, and increasingly, various high purity precious and special metals endow sustainability-driving technologies with specific functionalities. These metals become heavily intertwined within products, complicating end-of-life treatment. To counteract the resulting downcycling and potential depletion of scarce resources, maximising both the quantities and qualities of materials recovered during primary extraction and recycling, processes should be a priority in the pursuit of sustainable circular economy. Adopting a process simulation approach; a digital twin for the life cycle of cadmium-telluride solar photovoltaic (CdTe PV) modules was created. The system comprises an integrated metallurgical production system that produces, among others, cadmium, tellurium, selenium, zinc, copper, and lead, all of which are required to manufacture PV modules. System-wide resource efficiency and environmental impacts are assessed using exergy analysis and life cycle assessment, respectively. Simulation of this large and complex product life cycle at a high level of detail allows for the evaluation of potential system-wide effects of various production, recycling and residue exchange scenarios aimed at maximising the sustainability of the entire system. It diminishes the need to make arbitrary choices about allocation methods for the distribution of environmental impacts in multipleoutput production systems. Furthermore, it demonstrates the key importance of metallurgy in achieving circular economy. Keywords: Circular economy, sustainability, simulation, metallurgy, CdTe photovoltaics, life cycle assessment

Jan 1, 2020

By G. B. Abaka-Wood, J. Addai-Mensah, W. Skinner

Recently, coal fly ash has become a potential candidate as a secondary resource of rare earth elements (REE). In this investigation, we studied the recovery of REE from fly ash from a commercial power plant. The specific aim was to assess the technical feasibility of recovering REE from the coal fly ash using conventional preconcentration methods, including gravity separation, magnetic separation, and froth flotation. The experimental results revealed that flotation achieved major gains in REE recovery and upgrading. However, during gravity and wet magnetic separation tests, the bulk of REE reported to the tailings. The results showed significant variations in the performance of the various beneficiation methods investigated. This study has confirmed that existing physical separation methods could be used to recover REE from coal fly ash prior to hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical processing, although some challenges persist.

Jan 2, 2022