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By Anatoly Usov

The detailed researches of a broad circle of problems connected to development of the electric pulse method destruction materials (EPD) of a various nature and area of use are executed. The electrical and power characteristics of process, physical fundamentals of selectivity of a breakdown and destruction are investigated, the device of electric pulse (EP) disaggregation and ?omminution of materials are developed, the technological efficiency of disintegration of industrial minerals estimated. Due to its technological advantages, the EPD could have a great potential in minerals mining and processing technologies. Low specific power and weight-and-size characteristics of EP installations based on the existing out-of-date electric equipment are at present the main reasons hindering the effective application of the method in mining and processing technologies. The main studies carried out in Russia in the field of electro technical equipment development for EP technology are presented. The pulse capacitors service life affects greatly the economic efficiency of the process because the capacitors cost accounts for a considerable, and in some cases, the most part of the operational costs. Determined and analyzed in the study are the ways which could significantly improve the specific characteristics of high voltage pulse generators (VPG), such as to use of high-frequency voltage transformation to develop a charger; to use pulse transformers (PT) with iron magnetic circuits made of materials characterized by high magnetic permeability, in pulse generating circuits; as well as to use special ways which could produce voltage pulses with a short front. The experiments have proved the possibility to adapt these technological solutions for EP devices, and a further strategy of the EP technologies development and application has been suggested on this base. Keywords: electric pulse disaggregation, electric pulse installation, charger battery, high voltage pulse generator

Sep 1, 2012

By S. Banisi, A. R. Ghasemi, M. Maleki-Moghaddam

Direct observation of the charge shape and its motion in industrial mills are not possible, it is then customary to use transparent end, small-scale mills (i.e., model mills) to determine the charge trajectory directly by visualization methods. Because of a short length of the model mills, the end-wall effects could introduce a significant bias on the observed charge trajectories and shape. The shorter the mill, the stronger the bias. This could be due to some material bridging between the end walls. In this research, the end-wall effects were investigated by gradually increasing the model mill length and analysing the charge trajectory and shape variation at a given operating conditions (i.e., ball filling, mill speed, liner type). The unbiased mill length was assumed to be beyond the mill length where no significant change observed in the charge trajectory and shape. For all tests, the torque of the charge was also measured by a torque sensor. The special design of the model mill with the diameter of 100 cm made possible to increase the mill length in steps of 3.6 cm up to 21.6 cm. Four types of liners, five steel ball fillings (10, 15, 20, 25, 30% v/v) and three mill speeds (55, 70, 85% of critical speed) were tested. The ball sizes ranged from 4 to 12 mm. The results indicated that when the mill length was below 10.8 cm the end walls prevented the charge from free falling. This resulted in lower impact point angles and lower power draws compared with the case of no end-wall effects. When the same experiments were performed using an iron ore instead of balls with the same size range, the impact of end-wall effects was more pronounced. For an increase of 30% in the speed (from 55 to 85%), the torque due the change in the charge shape decreased by 41% (from 3.7 to 2.2 kgf.m) when mill filling was 30%. At the same operating conditions when steel balls used the torque decreased only by 19% (from 9 to 7.2 kgf.m). This was expected due to irregular shapes of the ore particles which facilitated bridging. Three-dimensional DEM simulations also resulted in the similar conclusions.

Jan 1, 2014

By M. Brennan, A. Majumder

"The mineral processing research community has devoted enormous efforts to the modelling of mineral separators over the last 50 years. While many efforts have been made to use only fundamental physics as a basis for the models, fluid flow patterns in separators are not simple while the motion of particle swarms through fluids is extremely complex.Sluices are the simplest forms of the flowing film concentrators and have been used in the mineral industry since at least the 15th century (Agricola, 1556). Flowing film concentrators, in general, still have widespread applications in the mineral industry and their designs vary according to the specific need.Particle separation in a sluice appears deceptively simple, but the separation mechanism has proven complex and difficult to quantify. Separation in the sluice takes place in a flowing film a few millimetres thick. The particles are suspended by turbulent eddies and motion relative to the fluid takes place in socalled hindered settling mode. The difficulty arises because the presence of the particles influences the flow pattern and when the particles are fully transported by the flow, the flowing slurry may not have the same viscosity as water and does not have the same density. For this reason a universal theory which can explain the behaviour of a suspension in a sluice or any other gravity equipment has still not been developed. Few attempts have been made to analyse the mechanisms involved in the concentrating processes of pinched sluices and Reichert cones.Fluid flow behaviour and slurry transportation characteristics in open channels have, however, been active research topics in the disciplines of fluid mechanics, chemical engineering and civil engineering for many years. As a result, an extensive literature is available, which has led to the development of the model described in this paper.In an effort to test the extent to which fundamental fluid mechanics can provide a prediction of particle separation, a study on a simple parallel-sided sluice has been carried out using glass beads at various particle concentrations and flow rates, and the actual particle separation taking place compared to predictions from modelling.The modelling strategy was divided into two parts; the first was to predict the horizontal slurry flow velocity profile and the second to predict the solid particle concentration over the depth of the flow at different flow conditions. The predictions were then validated with measured data sets. This can easily be done if the slurry flow is split at different fractional flow depths so that the mass flow of solids over different flow heights is measured accurately over a fixed period. Mass flow splits can then be calculated by integrating the product of the predicted slurry velocity profile and the predicted solids concentration profiles from the base of the sluice bed to the slurry free surface."

Jan 1, 2003

By Alejandro Rubio-Lopetegui, Gonzalo Montes-Atenas

The occurrence of Enargite (Cu3AsS4) in hydrometallurgical plants bears a number of challenges. One question lies on how Copper and Arsenic can be selectively extracted from the solid surface structure when immersed in aqueous solution. The leaching of Enargite in ambient conditions has been extensively studied; nevertheless, challenges regarding the process kinetics and surface structures enabling the extraction process remain ill-understood. Prior knowledge indicates that different conditions of pH, Eh, temperature, speciation of the aqueous phase or variations of these parameters defines the overall rate at which metals and other elements will be transferred to the solution. One aspect that the research studies have seldom addressed involves studying the main features of the surface structures formed during the leaching process at the outmost surface atomic layer. Such structures will mediate between the solid bulk and the solution to undertake subsequent stages of leaching process. The aim of this research work is to critically analyze the state of the art of Enargite electrochemistry from the mediator formation-dissolution mechanisms standpoint occurring at the mineral-solution interface. The most probable mediator species reported in the literature were found to be: Arsenolite and Sulfur (acidic media), Covellite (acidic and alkaline media) and Tenorite (alkaline media). As a result of this analysis, it was observed that the surface speciation was not in full agreement with the previous knowledge suggested to explain Enargite leaching reactions and, therefore, modified Eh-pH diagrams are presented. The acquired insights on the surface structures rising from the Enargite-aqueous solution interactions is further revised to provide new experimental protocols towards selectively separating Copper and Arsenic through hydrometallurgical paths.

Jan 1, 2014

By T. Kalliomäki, B. P. Wilson, M. Lundström, J. Aromaa

"The diffusion rate of cupric ions and limiting current density are important factors that determine the rate of copper mass transport in electrolytes proximal to the electrodes used in electrorefining. As a result, diffusion can critically affect both the rate and morphology of cathodic copper deposition thus it is crucial that it be optimized to improve production. The diffusion coefficient of cupric ion (DCu(II)) in copper electrolytes has been previously researched but the values detailed in the literature show significant variations and moreover arsenic - a common impurity - is generally excluded. Furthermore, in previous studies the models have only been validated with model solutions rather than real industrial electrolytes. In this study, the limiting current density and diffusion coefficient of cupric ion were defined for synthetic electrolytes containing copper (40–60 g/dm3), nickel (0–20 g/dm3), sulfuric acid (130–220 g/dm3) and arsenic (0–45 g/dm3). The cathodic limiting current densities were measured at three temperatures (50, 60, 70 °C) with linear sweep voltammetry using the rotating disc electrode (RDE) as the cathode. By utilizing the limiting current density, models for the DCu(II) were constructed using Levich equation. The validity of the DCu(II) model for technical use was confirmed through their application to industrial electrorefining electrolytes with known element concentrations. Consequently, this study provides improved models for limiting current density and diffusion coefficient of cupric ion that can be utilized for industrial process optimization.INTRODUCTION For an efficient copper electrolysis process, the mass transport of copper ions has to be effective. The main mass transport types of copper ions in copper electrorefining are diffusion and convection while the effect of migration is negligible. In order to maintain good mass transport, it is beneficial to keep both diffusion and convection high to maximize the limiting current density (jlim) (Bard and Faulkner, 2001). jlim is the highest current density that can flow in the cell, thus by maximizing jlim the deposition time can be minimized and the good quality of cathodic copper can be ensured. Thus, it is important to research possibilities that increase and optimize diffusion since slow diffusion in the electrolyte limits the rate of the process (Levich, 1947; Moats et al., 2000; Subbaiah and Das, 1989)."

Jan 1, 2018

By L. Stamenov, H. Bouzahzah, S. Gaydardzhiev, D. Naumov

"The Chelopech epithermal arsenic bearing high-sulphidation, copper-gold deposit located in Bulgaria is often referred as the richest European gold deposit currently under exploitation. Key points from the flotation circuit of the processing plant have been sampled and selected physicochemical parameters measured. Plant survey has followed with selected samples being submitted to chemical and mineral liberation analysis (MLA). Quantitative analysis has enabled to link the flotation response of the main copper bearing minerals with the physiochemical parameters (Eh, DO, EDTA extractable Cu and Fe) being measured. Data from mineral liberation analysis have highlighted an important process-relevant information explaining the variable floatability in the various granulometric classes.The low chalcopyrite recovery could be linked to the non-sufficient amount of dissolved oxygen measured in the copper selective flotation circuit. Given the finely-disseminated copper bearing minerals, the observed copper losses inside the flotation could be also explained by the insufficient degree of liberation of the mineral grains. Suggestions for improvement in metallurgical recovery are therefore proposed.INTRODUCTIONThe Chelopech deposit is a high sulphidation (HS) volcanic-hosted epithermal gold-copper one (Bonev et al., 2002; Kouzmanov et al, 2009; Strashimirov, et al. 2002). It is considered as one of the largest and economically most important ore deposits in Bulgaria, and often is referred to Europe’s largest currently mined gold resource. It is located in the Srednogorie zone which falls within the central sector of the extensive Tethyan–Eurasian copper belt formed during Mesozoic–Cenozoic time along the southern margin of Eurasia. The Srednogorie zone has the features of a subduction-related, Late Cretaceous island arc, with development of a calk-alkaline to sub-alkaline volcano-plutonic magmatism and associated hydrothermal ore deposits (Bonev et al., 2002).Ore mineralisation occurs as veins, mineralised breccia, and massive sulphide replacements and disseminations. Three mineralisation stages have been identified at Chelopech deposit. An early pyrite–marcasite mineralisation (stage I), characterised by disseminated to massive pyrite followed and partly brecciated by enargite– luzonite and tennantite–chalcopyrite–bornite (stage II) mineralisation. The gold is met in ores belonging to the stage II. Sphalerite and galena veins characterise stage III, best developed below and adjacent to the pyrite–enargite– chalcopyrite ore bodies. Advanced argillic altered volcanoclastic rocks commonly host this mineralisation (Chambefort and R. Moritz, 2014)."

Jan 1, 2018

By Marco Le Roux, Quentin Campbell

"Most coal supply contracts include strict limitations on the moisture content of the products. This limitation exists because of calorific, transport cost, and handling reasons. Managing the retention time on product stockpiles to facilitate drainage commonly controls the moisture content in coarser coal products. A large-scale pilot rig has been commissioned to facilitate research in this regard. A stockpile of about 15 tonnes of a typical washed power station feed coal from the South African Witbank coalfield was loaded onto a 6 x 6 m platform on load cells. The platform was shielded from the elements, like rain and wind, and an artificial rain sprinkler system was installed. A variety of rainfall intensities and durations were simulated and the water accumulation and run-off was measured. The material was also sampled for moisture and particle size before and after the series of tests. At the same time, the drainage characteristics of the same coal were determined in smaller scale drainage columns for comparison. Data is presented in this paper on the drainage rates, maximum accumulated moisture, final moisture, and the effect of evaporation. The results showed that for all rainfall patterns tested, drainage ceased after 2 - 3 days, but evaporation continued for at least the time period under investigation, albeit at a low rate. Evaporation contributed to dewatering at rates that depended on wind, temperature and humidity conditions. This caused a slow reduction in moisture content even after the run-off had ceased. The value of the final moisture depended on the coal PSD. It was also found that the intensity and duration of the more intense rainfall events did not significantly affect the maximum water accumulation, with drainage rates equaling the corresponding water addition rates which suggested that water ran off over the surface of the stockpile with limited penetration. During more intense rainfall scenarios, some penetration was apparent."

Jan 1, 2014

By Kunihiko Yamaguchi, Gjergj Dodbiba, Toyohisa Fujita

Usually magnetic separation is performed to separate ferromagnetic, paramagnetic and diamagnetic particles by controlling magnetic field strength. In this research the wet high gradient magnetic separation at various kinds of magnetization of medium has been investigated to separate different kinds of magnetization of paramagnetic mineral particles from each other. Most of week paramagnetic particles are captured at high magnetic field using superconducting magnet. If the magnetization of fluid is larger than that of paramagnetic particle, the paramagnetic particle cannot be captured in the direction of magnetic field. The paramagnetic particles of different magnetization such as hematite, chromium oxide, perovskite and rutile are separated in different magnetization of fluids. These particles are present in the incinerated bottom ash. The separation is useful to recover titanium oxide from bottom ash and the removal of chromium of bottom ash is important to reuse the bottom ash as cement. The used fluids are paramagnetic liquids dissolving paramagnetic salts and the water based magnetic fluid dispersing the stable ultrafine magnetite. The dispersion condition of particles related to zeta-potential of the suspension feed is also important to separate effectively by controlling pH

Jan 1, 2014

By A. R. Videla, P. R. Brito-Parada, I. Mackay

"Linking results from laboratory scale experiments to industrial flotation behaviour is challenging. Typically, such experiments involve batch tests in which the system does not operate at steady-state, making it difficult to infer the effects that operating conditions have on flotation performance. In order to overcome this limitation a 4-litre recirculating tank was previously developed at Imperial College London. This tank is capable of reaching, and operating at, steady-state by recycling overflowing concentrate back into the feed. As well as instruments to control operating conditions, it is fitted with a system of sensors that allow the surface of the froth to be dynamically monitored. From this information, it is possible to measure the air recovery—a proxy for froth stability. Thus, this bench-scale tank can be used to understand the effect of differing operating conditions on flotation performance at steady state. However, so far, this cell has only been used to investigate idealised systems with only one or two species.Reprocessing of tailings dams is not only environmentally desirable but also increasingly economically feasible due to the declining head grades of primary deposits. There is also the added benefit of no further milling being required prior to flotation. However, the effects of fine and ultrafine particles on froth stability are not yet fully understood. In this work, the bench-scale continuous tank has been used for the first time to determine the flotation response of a complex feed, consisting of samples from a copper tailings dam, to changes in operating conditions. It was shown that the froth stability in the system is comparable to that of previous work and industrial tests, with a peak in air recovery being found at a superficial gas velocity of 1.13 cm/s. There is scope to optimize the froth stability of tailings flotation for enhanced metallurgical performance."

Jan 1, 2018

By P. Huang

Chitosan was tested as a depressant in the differential flotation separation of chalcopyrite and galena. The micro-flotation results showed that chitosan selectively depressed chalcopyrite while galena was floated by potassium ethyl xanthate in acidic solutions. With the addition of 0.67 mg/L chitosan (CT) in the slurry of chalcopyrite-galena mixtures at pH 4, the recovery of galena was 95% while that of chalcopyrite was 30%, indicating that chitosan could potentially be used in differential Cu-Pb sulfide separation. Furthermore, the study of chitosan with either low (LCT) or high molecular weight (HCT) in the differential flotation indicated that better separation was achieved by the chitosan with lower molecular weight (LCT). ToF-SIMS was employed to study the distribution of CT on the surface of chalcopyrite-galena mixtures by ion mass spectra analysis and surface imaging, which showed that CT adsorbed heavily on chalcopyrite but barely adsorbed on galena. The positive ion ToF-SIMS spectra provided information on the surface composition of chalcopyrite-galena mixtures after CT treatment. It appears that the selective adsorption of CT on chalcopyrite was originated from the strong interaction between NH3+ and Cu. Keywords: differential flotation, micro-flotation

Sep 1, 2012

By Aubrey Mainza, Malcolm S. Powell

"A hydrocyclone with two vortex finders, named the three-product cyclone, has been successfully tested in the Platinum industry for dealing with the dense chromite found in UG2 ores. This dense component preferentially reports to the cyclone underflow, resulting in an over-ground fine chromite component in the final product. The dense media effect caused by a high chromite concentration in the cyclone feed produces a coarsening of the cyclone overflow, which results in loss of recovery through over-size material in the float feed. The fine barren particles of chromite that report to the overflow are recovered through entrainment in the flotation process, resulting in detrimental contamination of the slag produced from the concentrate.With the three-product cyclone a middlings product has been extracted that has a higher concentration of fine chromite. This volumetric stream flow represents a small percentage of the total cyclone feed and it is thus possible to treat it separately via fine screening to remove the fine chromite from the system and recover coarse silica."

Jan 1, 2003

By A. Yörükoglu

In this study, thorium mineral that found in the complex ore deposit bearing bastnasite, fluorite, and barite from Eskisehir - Sivrihisar district has been tried to extract by using HCl and H2SO4 leaching. Ore sample of approximately 3 tons taken from the ore deposit has been homogenized in order to obtain composite samples by means of ore preparation techniques for experiments. Results of chemical analyses of composite samples are as given; 40.8% CaF2, 35.35% BaSO4, 2.01 Ce, 1.5% La, 0.39% and 0.1% Th. HCl and H2SO4 leaching processes have been performed to gain Th in the ore. For determining the optimum particle size, the samples have been ground under controlled conditions and brought to the sizes of 0.065, 0.2, 1 and 3 mm. Leaching experiments have been carried out in both HCl and H2SO4 acids without roasting and roasting at the temperature of 900°C for 1, 3 and 6 h retention times for all particle sizes determined before. In the experiments, the highest Th recoveries reached are as follows; 78.74% Th when H2SO4 and 1 mm particle sized sample used, and 1 h roasting applied and 73.38% Th when HCl and 1 mm particle sized sample used, and 3 h roasting applied. Keywords: thorium, leaching, concentration, sivrihisar, roasting

Sep 1, 2012

By G. Voiloshnikov, A. Bogudlova

"The deleterious effect of carbonaceous matter during cyanidation of gold ores (so called preg-robbing) has been recognized for many years. Based on this, a new method using flotation to reduce the content of carbonaceous matter was developed. Low-sulfide gold-bearing ore with carbonaceous matter of 0.14% from a Russian deposit was processed. The purpose of these tests was to compare two flow sheet options. Option I comprised removal of carbonaceous product prior to sulfide flotation. Option II comprised removal of carbonaceous matter from flotation concentrate. It was found that the content of carbonaceous material can be reduced in sulfide gold-bearing concentrate prior to leaching. High gold recovery was observed during the separation of carbonaceous material prior to sulfide flotation using Option I. Due to lower reagent consumption the costs for reagents were decreased using Option II. The results have shown the effectiveness of a new method. Patent No. 2783808 was obtained for removal of carbonaceous material prior to sulfide flotation. This information will be used to design a large processing plant flow sheet in Russia."

Jan 1, 2014

By A. Y. Senchenko, Y. V. Kulikov

"The most common technique for selection of grinding equipment is the Bond method implying determination of a ball mill work index (BWi). The method is perfect for greenfield projects where a ball mill must be sized to grind an ore to 80% passing 75-100 µm. Finer grinding will require application of specific correction factors to a standard equation since initially the method was not designated for sizing of fine (minus 75 µm) grinding mills. Significant issues are related to selection of grinding equipment for treatment of originally fine materials when the standard procedure is not applicable. In 1984, Levin published his special technique titled as “A proposed test for the determination of the grindability of fine materials”, where he offered to use the standard Bond ball mill for determination of a specific grinding energy. However, this method did not meet with wide recognition. In 2017, Institute TOMS under guidance of JKMRC’s specialists performed a testwork aimed at verification of a new universal technique for determination of grindability of initially fine materials. An object was to test three aged tailings samples for the subsequent modelling of comminution circuit and evaluation of potential throughput of the existing ball mills with final grind size of ?80 passing 53 µm. In parallel with development of the universal approach, TOMS’ specialists carried out tests according to the Levin method in order to compare the data resulted from two methods. The results from lab ball mill testing on three products following the alternative test methods are presented in this paper along with the testing methodology and results analysis. Specific energy was calculated for regrinding of the materials to the required size. Difference of the examined methods and assessment of their applicability for sizing of full-scale equipment are explored."

Jan 1, 2018

By Chuanyao Sun, Longli Liu, Fayu He, Guiye Wu

Utilizing thioglycolic acid (TGA) as a template and using structure-guided design, a molecular modelling approach has been used to design and screen appropriate dispersant for chalcopyrite. A series of organic dispersants based on a TGA substitution with hydroxyl and amino and sulfonic functional groups have been examined on chalcopyrite surface. 20 organic depressors of chalcopyrite have been investigated to study the quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) of chalcopyrite depressors. For the chalcopyrite surface, depressor containing carboxyl and sulfonic group is generally stronger than the depressor containing hydroxyl group. Increasing the number of hydrophilic group can effectively enhance the inhibition. Increasing the number of Solidophilic group does not necessarily lead to enhanced inhibition ability; steric factor is one of the important factors to affect the interaction. Extension alkyl carbon chain length cannot enhance the interaction of depressors. Isomers principle as well as applies to the chalcopyrite depressor molecular design. Flotation verification tests further confirmes the accuracy of the molecular simulation. Through the Computer Aided Molecular Design (CAMD) technology, we can save enormous time and resources to design novel surfactants. This research and application will play a great significance role in sulfide flotation.

Jan 1, 2014

By Daniela Campos, Aldo Casali, Gonzalo Montes-Atenas

The understanding of the effect of the major variables influencing the froth flotation performance may allow both to predict and to identify best operating conditions towards optimizing the process efficiency. The aim of this research work is to model the effect of dissolved oxygen onto froth flotation performance. Experimental pilot plant results were obtained from a continuous circuit consisting of a ball mill and a rougher bank of four flotation cells. A series of flotation experiments were run with different conditions of dissolved oxygen keeping constant most of other operating conditions. Variables difficult to control were measured or estimated. A set of mathematical models suggested in the published literature were tested. It was found that the copper recovery results were highly sensitive to the concentration of dissolved oxygen. The latter confirmed the reactions mechanisms associated to the collecting capabilities of current flotation reagents used in the flotation of copper sulfide ores. On the contrary, the results of molybdenum recovery varied non-linearly with changes in dissolved oxygen which could not be explained directly in terms of the computed specific rate constants. The error analysis confirmed that Klimpel continuous model exhibited the best specific rate constant correlation with molybdenum recovery data. Lastly, the classic particle force balance equations indicated that the adjustments of estimated mineral liberation with experimental data exhibited a turning point when passing from highly liberated to low liberated particles. The values of recovery for such turning point correlated well with the concentration of dissolved oxygen. The results indicated corrections due to changes in the dissolved oxygen must be incorporated in future froth flotation descriptions.

Jan 1, 2014

By Olga D. Khmelnitskaya

The paper presents the results of research on the development of gold recovery technology from oxidized gold-copper ore of one of deposits in Russian Federation. Gold and copper grades in the ore are 9.5 g/t and 0.4%, respectively. Various options of flowsheets, such as direct cyanidation, thiourea leaching, flotation and gravity concentration followed by subsequent cyanidation of con-centration products, were tested. It was established that gravity-cyanidation technology with filtra-tion leaching tails and the use of solutions in the recirculation is the optimal option for ore treatment. The proposed flowsheet provides gold recovery for 91.0% at NaCN consumption 2.5 kg/t ac-cording to the results of pilot testing. Ammonia-cyanide gold leaching was also examined. In comparison with cyanidation, gold leaching solution in system NaCN-NH4OH-(NH4)2CO3 allows NaCN consumption to be reduced three times from 4.5 kg to 1.5 kg per 1 ton of the ore and provides the same gold recovery. Based on the laboratory and pilot plant tests results of gravity-cyanidation technology of gold dissolution, process design criteria were developed.

Jan 1, 2014

By Gülay Bulut, Ferihan Göktepe

Pyrite is the most abundant and widespread sulphide mineral and its flotation has been investigated by many researchers. It is well known that, pyrite is floatable under acidic conditions and recovery drops with increase in alkalinity due to changes in solubility of iron hydroxides on the pyrite surface. Most of the works also revealed out that pyrite displays variable behaviour in flotation circuits. This behaviour mainly related with origin and mineralogical composition of ore, liberation size, electrochemical behavior of minerals constituting ore, the trace and minor element content of the mineral, texture, application variables belonging to flotation circuits. In this study, copper activation effect was examined on different origin of pyrites. The experiments were performed with five high grade samples of pyrite from the different mining districts of Turkey. The pyrite samples were different from each other with respect to either their physical or chemical properties; they were different physical appearances and contained different associated minerals. In the micro-flotation tests, 1x10-4 mole/L copper sulphate and 1x10-4 potassium ethyl xanthate were used as flotation reagents. First of all pyrite samples were floated using only xanthate at different pH. Results showed that best floatation results obtained at acidic pH range for all pyrite samples. When copper ions were used to activate, all pyrite samples floated at neutral and basic pH values, too but depending on the samples, recovery and pH ranges were slightly changed.

Jan 1, 2014

By T. Ueda, T. Oki, S. Koyanaka

"Accurate assessment of the liberation state of crushed ore particles is important for efficient mineral processing. In general, the liberation state is assessed by two-dimensional (2D) measurement of polished ore sample sections. However, this 2D measurement inevitably suffers from overestimation of the degree of liberation, known as stereological bias. This arises from the fact that biphase particle sections of which only one phase happens to have been cut are indistinguishable from liberated particles. To date, several stereological correction methods have been proposed, but their applicability for various types of particles has not yet been sufficiently examined, and this tends to undermine their practicality. We have addressed this problem using a numerical-analytical approach in which various types of biphase particles are modeled, and the 2D sectional information is compared with actual three-dimensional (3D) information. Through simulations, we revealed a general relationship between the internal mineral structure of particles and the stereological bias. Finally, we have developed a unique stereological correction method in which the texture (a 2D pattern characteristic) of particle sections is used to estimate the internal structure of particles, and thereby the stereological bias. KEYWORDS Mineral liberation, stereological bias, texture analysis INTRODUCTION Mineral liberation assessment of 2D particle sections inevitably suffers from stereological bias; that is, overestimation of the degree of liberation. Stereological bias is caused by the fact that a composite particle can be misidentified as a liberated particle when only one phase happens to have been cut in sectional measurement. Stereological bias has attracted attention since Gaudin pointed out its importance in 1939 (Gaudin, 1939). Several attempts have been made to measure the 3D liberation state directly, avoiding the bias, using X-ray computed tomography (Gay and Morrison, 2006; Lin and Miller, 1996; Miller et al., 2003; Miller et al., 2009; Reyes et al., 2017; Videla et al., 2007). These have provided useful information through laboratory testing, but further technical refinement is necessary for practical usage, to overcome the technique’s limitations in terms of resolution, assessment of minerals of similar density, and speed. Therefore, for practical purposes, detailed information regarding mineral phase geometry is obtained by sectional analysis, using automated scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX)-based analysis (e.g., with a mineral liberation analyzer (MLA) (Fandrich et al., 2007; Sandmann, 2015)); and the development of an effective method of stereological correction, which predicts the relevant bias and transforms the measurable 2D degree of liberation into its 3D counterpart, is an important research aim."

Jan 1, 2018

By Z. T. Yuan, S. L. Qi, Q. Y. Meng, G. X. Zou, L. X. Li, J. W. Lu

"The selective separation of pentlandite from serpentine was investigated using the magnetic coating-magnetic separation by conditioning slurry pH value, stirring speed, magnetic field intensity and controlling dosages of sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) and sodium oleate (SO). The optimal conditions were obtained as follows: the natural pH of 6.8-7.2, stirring speed of 2300 rpm, magnetic field intensity of 200 kA m-1, SHMP of 60 mg L-1, and SO of 400 mg L-1. Results showed that the Ni grade was 21.4% with the Ni recovery of 81.4% and MgO content of 3.8%. FTIR indicated that coagulant of SO preferentially adsorbed onto pentlandite and magnetite particles while hardly adsorbing onto serpentine particles when dispersant of SHMP was used. Thus, the selective magnetic coating of magnetite on pentlandite surfaces could be formed due to the formation of hydrophobic surfaces on pentlandite and magnetite particles. Calculations of DLVO (Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek) confirmed that interactions between magnetite and pentlandite particles were much stronger than that between magnetite and serpentine due to the existence of hydrophobic interactions with the addition of SO. Consequently, the pentlandite was successfully separated from serpentine. Therefore, this study exhibits the potential to separate pentlandite from serpentine minerals for practical applications and thus deserves further study.INTRODUCTION It has been well known that the separation of pentlandite from serpentine is a worldwide challenging issue in the processing of sulphide nickel-copper ores. Because the serpentine mainly causes the high pulp viscosity and slime coating on the pentlandite, which interferes with the flotation process of pentlandite (Cao et al., 2016; Feng et al., 2012). The fibrous mineral of serpentine preferentially attaches to the air bubble, forming bubble-macrofibers aggregates, which are easily floated into the nickel concentrates, resulting in the decline of Ni grade (Alvarez-Silva et al., 2016; Kusuma et al., 2014). In addition, the serpentine adheres to the pentlandite as hetero-aggregation or slime coating via the electrical interaction between a positively charged serpentine and a negatively charged pentlandite, which decreases the hydrophobicity of pentlandite and reduces the collector adsorption (Feng et al., 2013). In other words, the presence of serpentine or the occurrence of aggregates (including slime coating and bubble-macrofibers aggregates) seriously affects the flotation process and deteriorates the flotation of pentlandite. Therefore, we propose magnetic separation to recover pentlandite from serpentine with the magnetic coating technology, which is different from forth flotation."

Jan 1, 2018