Search Documents

By M. Ranjbar, M. Khosravi Rad, A. Tohry

"The filling degree is defined as the volume ratio of the load inside the mill, which determines the power drawn from the motor, as long as the filling degree is not more than the optimum level. As the filling degree increases beyond the optimum level, the impact energy inside the mill will decrease and as a consequent, the mill power output will also decrease. Therefore, the mill filling degree is a key parameter in evaluating the grinding circuit performance, as it determines the mill reaction to the input feed. Since this parameter has an impact on the mill capacity, measuring the mill load is vital for control and optimization of grinding process. As in Choghart Processing Plant no instrument is available to measure the AG mill filling degree, an empirical model based on the bearing-oil pressure is proposed. The AG mill filling degree was related to the differences between the average pressure of input and output bearings, the circulating load and power drawn. It was shown that a quadratic model could relate the mill filling to the above mentioned measurements. This model showed that when the power drawn and circulating load decreases the bearing-oil pressure needs to be checked. If the bearing-oil pressure increases the feed rate needs to be decreased and steel ball be charged to the mill to increase the grinding and prevent mill overloading. INTRODUCTION The feed quality (size and hardness) affects the grinding process in AG mills. Reducing the top feed size and increasing the ore hardness reduce the mill efficiency and increase the particles with critical dimensions inside the mill. These will result in increasing the mill filling degree and reducing the mill throughput and efficiency (Wills and Finch, 2015). The volume ratio of the load inside the mill is called filling degree, which determines the mill power drawn. It is believed that if more energy is mainly spent on grinding (Wills and Finch, 2015). Therefore the mill power draw is used as a mean to control the mill efficiency."

Jan 1, 2018

By M. Ito

The authors have developed the RETAC jig (a modified TACUB jig) and have reported that the RETAC jig can separate relatively low density particles such as plastics. To further improve the separation ability, a hybrid jig (a RETAC jig with an air bubbler under the particle bed), which can separate plastics having similar specific gravities by the differences in the wettabilities of the particles was developed. Surface modification of plastics with similar wettability enabling separation in the hybrid jig and the effects of wettability control of the plastics using reagents are reported.

Sep 1, 2012

By Érica Linhares, Anderson Silveira Lopes, Aline Costa

In the production units of ferromanganese alloys wastewater are generated. They mainly arise from gutters of drainage water from warehouse of raw material (manganese ore, reducing agents and other), product and slag. This wastewater, in general, may contain particles that will suffer difficulty to naturally decant, giving the water turbidity and color characteristics. Thus, this study aims to characterize the effluent, the treated water and the sludge from the sedimentation tank from the one main Brazilian plant. The investigated characteristics were: turbidity, total solids (TS), suspended solids (SS), dissolved solids (DS), pH, Eh, COD (chemical oxygen demand), residue classification and chemical analysis by ICP - OES. The turbidity before treatment was 417 NTU and after passing through the tank, 44 NTU, a figure slightly higher than the emission standards for Class 1 regulated by the Brazilian environmental legislation in force. The values for TS, SS and DS of the effluent were 225, 114.3 and 110 mg/L, respectively. For the treated water the values were 93, 48.3 and 45 mg/L for TS, SS and DS, respectively. The sedimentation process was able to reduce by 21 % of the COD. In the test of loss on ignition (LOI) from the tank bottom sludge were observed losses of 29.35 %, while the volatile analysis found 20.70 % of volatiles in the sample. It was determined that the concentrations of Al, Fe, Mn and S are, respectively, 0.1875 mg.L-1, 0.3071 mg.L-1, 0,789 mg l-1 and 0.00828 mg.L-1, values above the maximum allowed by law. Based on the analysis of X-ray diffraction, the identified minerals in the sludge were quartz, muscovite, kaolinite, calcite and albite.

Jan 1, 2014

By Leon Lorenzen, Nursen Guresin, Harald Muller

The development of mining projects from discovery, exploration to actual production is a complex and time consuming process. Often poor process plant performance can be attributed to the use of non-representative samples and inadequate and/or unsuitable metallurgical test work when designing flow sheets during project feasibility study stages and specifying process equipment. Samples not representing the ore deposit and inadequate test work may lead to increased project development costs, since expensive test work and engineering may have to be repeated. It should be noted that for higher level engineering studies, larger scale test work is recommended and is a requirement for feasibility level studies. This would apply even if the technology is considered mature and well proven, as each ore body may have its own unique characteristics that, if untested at a larger scale, could result in significant design shortcomings, which will have to be rectified at later stages of the project, usually at significant additional costs

Jan 1, 2014

By Derek Caizergues, Hurman Eric

Experiments have been conducted at around 1700°C to determine the possibility of carbothermic reduction of alumina under the presence of a metallic solvent. Total pressure of the system was reduced to around 30kPa and metallic nickel, iron, copper and tin were selected as the solvent. The highest recovery of aluminium was achieved with the nickel solvent followed by iron, copper and tin. This ranking for the first three was also in accord with the extent of negative deviation form ideality in the respective binary solutions of these solvents with aluminium. The tin-aluminium system displays positive deviation form ideality. The rate and extent of reduction was found to be highly dependent on temperature and pressure. The pseudo first order reaction rate was found to be applicable to the process in all the solvents used. Rate constants were calculated and it is also suggested that the reduction was controlled primarily by the chemical reaction rate.

Jan 1, 2003

By W. S. Eu

Reduction of weathered mineral ores can initiate phase transformation which can affect either their activation or deactivation, subsequently influencing the extent of extraction of desired metals in a leaching reagent. The reduction of ilmenite ores for one occurs as a series of parallel, solid state reactions which at present has no known mechanisms, although the evidence of their effects is abundant. Understanding these reactions may well be the key to uncovering the mechanism of ilmenite activation, hence enabling precise control of its reaction process to maximize yield of TiO2 extraction. However, documenting the solid state reactions in the reduction of ilmenite is challenging due to the ore complexity, the number of simultaneous reactions and the difficulty of capturing critical intermediate reactions and phase transformations during processing. The phase transformations of ilmenite minerals reduced at temperatures up to 850°C were investigated in this study. Mineral transformations were studied in-situ using synchrotron radiation based X-ray powder diffraction with temperature resolved tests. The effect of the extent of reduction and specific mineral transformations were verified by leaching reduced ore with sulphuric acid. The re-sults suggest that transformation of major mineral phases occurs within of specific window of operation and thermal treatment appears to influence the extent of activation and leachability of ilmenite minerals.

Jan 1, 2014

By P. Somasundaran, Tarun Bhambhani, D. R. Nagaraj, P. Patra

"Certain non-sulfide gangue minerals are known to have a detrimental impact on flotation performance. When present in large amounts, they can negatively affect recoveries, grades and throughput at current operations, and dictate the viability and economics of a greenfield project. While the problem has been investigated for a long period of time, a scientific understanding of the mechanisms by which these minerals affect performance has not been obtained, and no acceptable solutions have been developed. This study focused on the role of physical aspects (e.g. shape, size and morphology) of these minerals as the underlying factors for poor performance. Flotation tests were conducted using model mineral systems to understand the impact of one phyllosilicate mineral (muscovite) on flotation kinetics, recoveries and grades. The study reveals that there is minimal impact on flotation kinetics, no impact on recoveries, but a very strong detrimental impact on concentrate grade. The traditional mechanisms of transport such as true flotation and entrainment are not sufficient in describing the extent of transport. The transport is attributed to the unique platy morphology of muscovite, which allows for action of buoyancy forces. Data also shows that the muscovite transport to the froth phase depends on particle size; coarser sized muscovite (100-150@) report to the froth phase in much larger amounts than medium sized muscovite (50-100@). At finer size fractions (<50@) the transport is also increased, and this is likely due to entrainment."

Jan 1, 2014

By S. Mitra1

"This study aims to investigate coarse particle detachment mechanisms (particle diameter > 150 ?m) utilising both experimental and numerical technique. Two mechanisms were studied – (i) interactions of bubbleparticle (BP) aggregate with vortices and (ii) coalescence of bubble-particle aggregates. On the first mechanism, interaction behaviour of coherent vortex structures with a BP aggregate (bubble diameter db = 3 mm, particle diameter dp = 0.3 mm) was studied using a CFD model in the Reynolds number range of 100 to 1000. Effect of surface hydrophobicity on the BP stability was examined using a range of contact angle boundary conditions. To address the second mechanism, interactions of bubble-particle aggregate (db ~ 4 mm, dp ~ 0.4 mm) with both free gas-liquid interface and individual bubbles were investigated using high speed imaging. Both rebound and coalescence outcomes were observed to be responsible for BP instability leading to particle detachment.INTRODUCTIONIt is widely known that flotation process performs excellent mineral recovery for base metal ore particles that are typically in the range of ~ 20 to 150 µm in diameter (Jameson, 2010). More specifically, higher recoveries are usually reported for particles in the size range of ~20 to 70 µm while outside this spectrum, generally the recovery diminishes significantly. It would be highly desirable to improve the recovery of particles at the coarse end of the flotation size range spectrum which has significant economic benefit (Jameson, 2010). However, it is essential that insights to particle detachment phenomenon, the primary impediment in coarse particle flotation caused by the underlying hydrodynamic factors are first obtained at a greater depth.In an ideal quiescent liquid medium, due to inertia, coarse particles deviate substantially from the fluid streamlines and collision efficiency with bubbles decreases which can only be augmented by increasing turbulence level in the medium sufficiently to make random physical contacts with bubbles. Nonetheless, even if successful contacts are made, it is difficult for these large particles to remain attached to bubbles in a turbulent shear flow environment. There are two major mechanisms postulated for particle detachment – interaction of turbulent flow structures (eddies) with BP aggregate and coalescence among surrounding aggregates. Earlier work of Schulze (1982) theorised a vortex acceleration component to characterise turbulence effect on BP aggregate instability in flotation machines. Wang et al. (2015) investigated bubble detachment behaviour from a stationary particle in a nearly homogeneous and isotropic flow field. Using PIV (particle image velocimetry), it was shown that the local maximum energy dissipation rate for the case of bubble detachment was significantly higher than the no detachment case, and was also higher than the critical value for bubble detachment calculated using Schulze’ theory (Schulze, 1982). Later, Wang et al. (2017) also visualised the BP aggregate instability in a cavity flow leading to particle detachment which was attributed to bubble coalescence, bubble surface oscillation and particle deceleration phenomena."

Jan 1, 2018

By K. W. Stöckelhuber, A. Wenger, H. J. Schulze

"An important elementary step of the flotation process is the forming, drainage and rupture of a thin intervening liquid film between bubble and mineral particle.After the encounter of the bubble with the solid surface a wetting film is formed. The initial thinning of this film is driven by the capillary pressure inside the bubble. When the film has reached a certain thickness rupture can take place.There are two possible mechanisms describing this process:-, Growing fluctuation waves (spinodal dewetting) on fluid interfaces under the influence of any kind of attractive forces (electrostatic, van der Waals). -, Nucleation inside the film.Metastable wetting films on negatively charged, hydrophobic glass surfaces (gaseous phase methylated), or on hydrophilic, positively charged glass surfaces (with Al3+ ions), have been analysed by means of the kinetics of film thinning according to the Reynolds law. These experiments demonstrate that both mechanisms can be responsible for the rupture of a thin wetting film. In the case of hydrophobic surfaces the nucleation mechanism is preferred; in the case of opposite charged silica surface the capillary waves mechanism due to an attractive electrostatic double layer force between silica and air bubble takes place.Hereby the existence of a long range hydrophobic force. on a hydrophobic surface can be excluded. The apparent interaction can be explained by the presence of gas nuclei formed on heterogeneous surface sites. The results provide deeper insight into the mechanisms of wetting film stability, adhesion process in flotation and droplet coalescence."

Jan 1, 2003

By J. Vilcáez

The copper extraction yield from thermophilic bioleaching of chalcopyrite depends on temperature, pH, and the oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), as well as the activity of the microbe used. We studied copper extraction yields obtained from chalcopyrite with three thermophiles, Acidianus brierleyi, Sulfolobus metallicus, and Metallosphaera sedula, under various pH and temperature conditions and with different initial amounts of ferric iron. The results indicated that the capacity of each thermophile strain to leach iron as Fe3+ differed, which affected the influence of pH, temperature, ORP, and microbial activity level on the yield of copper. Microbial activity can cause ORP to be close to the critical value (450 mV) at which copper extraction at 65 °C can be higher than that at 80°C. An initial pH of 1.5 retards the precipitation of jarosite, allowing temperatures as high as 80°C to result in copper extraction yields close to 100%. However, if a thermophile with a poor capacity to form Fe3+ is employed, 100% copper extractions can also be obtained at pH 2.5, because ORP is low as result of low amounts of Fe3+ in solution. Optimum temperatures for the growth of thermophiles did not always mean high copper extraction yields. Conversely, high biomass concentrations depending on the capacity of the thermophile strain to leach iron as Fe3+, can result in excess Fe3+ in solution, leading to the precipitation of large amounts of Fe3+ as jarosite. The bioleaching capacity of A. brierleyi was reduced or suppressed when insufficient initial Fe3+ was pro-vided to trigger the leaching reaction, whereas S. metallicus and M. sedula were less sensitive to the initial availability of Fe3+. This result confirmed that a direct enzymatic attack on the mineral surface could initiate the leaching reaction, but later ORP governed the leaching rate of chalcopyrite.

Jan 1, 2014

By S. Banisi, Seyyed Omid Mousavi, Alireza Ghasemi

Discrete Element Method (DEM) is extensively used to simulate the behaviour of particles in various processing units. This method is based on modelling the forces acting between particles in any contact and consequently calculating the new position of particles. The high number of elements and numerous equations needed have made the required computation time very long even using computers with very fast processors. The required computation time mainly depends on the time step. If the time step is chosen very short, the computation time will significantly increase. On the other hand, if the time step is chosen very long, the simulation will be in error due to not fully observing the contacts. In DEM calculations, the time step is chosen as a fraction of the collision time. In this research, a relationship was proposed between the contact time fraction and the error of simulation. In other words, to select the time step in addition to physical parameters, the accuracy of the simulation was also accommodated in the frequently-used relationships. The simulation error was defined as the relative difference between the initial restitution coefficient and the restitution coefficient obtained after simulation. The required time steps to arrive at the simulation error of 5% were calculated for two common contact force models namely, Hertz-Mindlin and linear spring-dashpot. The simulation was performed for two particles with radius of 3 cm, elasticity modulus of 210 GPa, Poisson&apos;s ratio of 0.3 and relative velocity of 0.5 m/s. The required time steps were found to be 2.3 and 0.19 µs for the Hertz-Mindlin and the linear spring-dashpot contact force models, respectively. Results showed that with a scaling-down the modulus from 210 GPa to 2.1 MPa, the required time steps for the Hertz-Mindlin and the linear spring-dashpot contact force models, with an equal simulation error, increased by 100 and 316 times, respectively.

Jan 1, 2014

Spent automobile catalyst is an important secondary resource of PGMs (platinum group metals) and the recovery is significant. Various methods of recovery technology have been reported and applied in practical production, including pyro- and hydrometallurgical processes. Since the grade of PGMs in the catalysts is so low, approximately 0.5 wt. %, the present recycling technologies require high energy-consumption, it is of great significance to enrich the PGMs with some energy saving physical separation methods as a pretreatment. Automobile catalyst is usually composed of cordierite phase as a substrate and alumina phase, with PGMs, which covers the cordierite phase. We adopted the quenching pretreatment, one method of thermal shock, to generate micro-cracks between the two phases and separate the alumina phase from cordierite. Quenching was carried out by heating the catalysts in an electric furnace of different temperatures followed by rapid soaking into cold water. It was found that the phase boundary between alumina and cordierite was broken in the quenching and selective separation (detachment) of alumina from the cordierite could be achieved in the following surface grinding. The effect of quenching was checked by microscopic observation, hardness measurement, and chemical analysis. This paper figures out the stress formula of the quenching process, which is largely connected with layer thickness and temperature gradient by using an FEM (Finite Element Method) simulation and clarifies the mechanism of crack generation in the quenching process. Keywords: automobile catalyst, PGM, quenching process, FEM

Sep 1, 2012

By Komar Kawatra, Joseph Halt

"Bentonite clay has been the traditional binder for iron ore pellets. However, bentonite increases pellets’ silica contents and is expensive. Researchers have proposed lowering bentonite doses by mixing it with other common binders. These mixtures may only be successful if the fundamental bonding mechanisms are understood. For example, what happens when bentonite (physical bonding) is mixed with fly-ash (chemical bonding)? What happens when bentonite is mixed with cornstarch (physical bonding)? In this paper, experiments are described where bentonite was mixed with various ratios of cornstarch and fly-ash, and pellets were agglomerated using 0.66 % w/w binder. Ca(OH)2 and CaCl2 were added as activator and accelerator, respectively, to the bentonite-fly ash mixture. Curves of pellet dry strength vs. bentonite-starch ratio were linear, suggesting the physical-physical bonding mechanisms were compatible - acceptable strengths (> 22 N) were produced at all bentonite-to-starch ratios. This was contrary to bentonite-fly ash mixtures, which displayed dry strength curves with a noticeable minimum due to competing binding mechanisms. Bentonite alone and fly ash alone produced acceptable strengths (> 22 N), but their mixtures resulted in weak pellets. Due to the positive results using cornstarch (CS) binders, the effects of CS solubility in water were investigated using two CS with high and low solubility (60 and 7.5 %). CS was premixed with bentonite at various ratios (0, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 %). Pellets were agglomerated using 0.66 % w/w binder. The dry strength of pellets ranged from 50-300 N using the high solubility CS mixtures, and from 50-85 N using the low solubility CS mixtures. Fired strengths exceeded 2200 N/pellet at all bentonite-cornstarch ratios. This research showed that cornstarch solubility is an important factor in determining its effectiveness as a binder for iron ore concentrates, but significant work is still necessary before it can be used as a bentonite replacement."

Jan 1, 2014

By Bern Klein, Givemore Sakuhuni, Libin Tong

The use of continuous discharge centrifugal concentrators introduced in the early 1990’s for recovery of gold associated with sulphides has introduced a novel application niche for gravity concentration which could not be realized with the low mass yield batch and semi-continuous concentrators. A typical application is scavenging gold associated with sulphides from flotation tails which has potential to increase productivity by reducing gold loss to tailings and lower grinding cost by using a coarser grind. However, the full potential of this technology has not been fully exploited partly due to the lack of reliable small sample procedures to demonstrate applicability. This paper introduces a bench-scale procedure developed to characterize the Knelson Continuous Variable Discharge concentrator (CVD) for scavenging gold from flotation tails. The procedure code named gravity release analysis was derived from standard flotation release analysis. It is a modification of the gravity recoverable gold and gravity amenability test in order to best simulate continuous centrifugal concentration. Based on this iterative procedure, a gravity release index similar to the flotation rate constant, for measuring individual mineral gravity susceptibility for an ore is introduced which can be a useful quantitative measure to both predict application of centrifugal concentration and for plant design. The gravity release analysis procedure was tested on a polymetallic flotation plant tailing at Myra Falls, BC, Canada and results show that it can predict CVD performance. The gravity release index for gold was observed to decrease with each successive cleaner stage showing that the initial stages recover liberated gold whilst successive runs recover gold associated with sulphides and or gangue. The difference in magnitude of the gravity release index for different mineral species shows the species separable by centrifugal concentration.

Jan 1, 2014

By D. Pienaar, B. McFadzean, T. Jordaan

"Dithiophosphate (DTP) collectors have the lowest affinity for sulfide mineral surfaces compared to other common sulfide mineral collectors, such as xanthates and dithiocarbamates. In some cases it has been found that DTP does not adsorb onto the mineral surface at all and yet increases in recoveries and grades are noticed with the addition of DTP. Many studies have investigated the interactive effects of collector mixtures. However, there have been relatively few studies on the interactive effects between frother molecules and collectors. This study investigates the interactions between different types of frothers and sodium diethyl dithiophosphate.The study found that there were large increases in pyrite and galena microflotation recoveries at both pH4 and pH9 when DTP was mixed with small amounts of frother at a constant bubble size, showing that these increases were neither mineral-specific nor pH-specific. The same effect was not present when xanthate was used as a collector. The increases in recovery when using the DTP-frother mixture were similar irrespective of the type of alcohol or polypropylene glycol frother that was used. In an attempt to distinguish the mechanism of enhanced flotation recovery, various supplementary experiments were performed. It was found through adsorption experiments that no DTP was adsorbing on to the mineral surface. Therefore, interactions at the air-water interface were performed. Surface tension and critical coalescence concentration tests showed that, while DTP is a weak surfactant at the air-water interface, it does not have a synergistic effect in the presence of frother. DTP-frother mixtures do, however, show interactions in the froth phase, indicating an interaction in the thin films. It is proposed that there is a DTP-frother interaction on the bubble surface that enhances the rate of film thinning at the 3-phase bubble-particle contact."

Jan 1, 2018

By Avishan Atrafi

Frothing behavior of surfactants originate from their preferential adsorption at the gas-solution interface. Different surfactants may demonstrate different adsorption behaviors depending on their molecular structure and surface activity. The quantity and rate of adsorption of surfactants at the gas- solution interface in flotation systems will certainly affect kinetics of reaction and fractionation of surfactant between bulk and foam phase and subsequently their frothing characteristics. In this paper, the frothing characteristics of sodium oleate which is the main constituent of fatty acids used in flotation systems is explained. The adsorption behavior of sodium oleate is then compared to a typical non-ionic frother (Methyl Isobutyl Carbinol, MIBC) in terms of different adsorption behavior at the gas-solution interface. Since long chain fatty acids are weak electrolytes, their behavior is a strong function of pH. Also semi soluble salts including apatite contain considerable amounts of ions like calcium in their lattice, so the effect of presence of ions on the frothing behavior of fatty acids requires an investigation. A mass balance on the surfactant transferred to the foam was solved to estimate the bubble surface area flux in foam, which explained how the adsorbed surfactant at gas-solution interface controls the bubble surface area flux at foam. Since sodium oleate adsorption at foam takes place gradually, frother concentration as a function of time was monitored by the total organic carbon measurement (TOC) to compare the surfactant uptake rate at different concentrations, pH and ionic strength. The surfactant concentration adsorbed within foam together with the value of adsorption density from the Gibbs adsorption, leads to the calculation of the surface area flux and prediction of average bubble size in the foam at a specific time frame. This value was compared at different concentrations of sodium oleate. Dynamic surface tension measurements were accompanied to explain the adsorption behavior, though finally equilibrium surface tension turns out to better explain the foamability characteristics. Keywords: flotation collectors, flotation froths, foams, fatty acids, adsorption behavior

Sep 1, 2012

By John Ralston

"Interfacial chemistry plays a pivotal role in bubble-particle capture, for it controls whether or not attachment occurs. Surface heterogeneity, degree of surface hydrophobicity, bubble nucleation and related phenomena influence the stability of the aqueous wetting film between a particle and an approaching bubble. The latter must be unstable if capture is to occur. Various techniques that may be used to quantify this interfacial, chemistry-dominated behaviour, are described.The efficient capture of specific particles by rising bubbles and the delicate control of interfacial chemistry that leads to selective capture are central issues in froth flotation. For efficient capture to occur between a particle and a bubble, they must undergo a close encounter, a collision process dominated by hydrodynamics. Should this encounter bring the particle and bubble within the range of attractive forces, the intervening liquid film between the bubble and the particle will drain, leading to a critical thickness at which rupture occurs. The liquid-vapour interface then retreats over the solid particle surface until a stable wetting perimeter is established. The particle and bubble are then joined after this attachment process. The particle may only be dislodged from this state if it is supplied with sufficient kinetic energy to exceed the detachment energy in this detachment process. These various events are now well documented and may be followed using high-speed videomicroscopy (Schulze, 1984; Nguyen et al., 2001).The process of collision can now be described quantitatively for single bubbles colliding with bubbles under various flow regimes (Dai et al., 1998) and appropriate scale up is possible for multiple bubble particle collisions occurring under turbulent conditions (Pyke et al., 2002). In this paper we will be concerned with the role of interfacial chemistry and how this influences the attachment process."

Jan 1, 2003

By Leon Lorenzen, Victor E. Ross, Anton W. Kleingeld

Key to successful innovation, whether at organization, industry or national level, is the alignment and utilization of resources in the most appropriate and efficient way. Innovation needs to be directed strategically, and it needs to be auditable in a systematic and integrated fashion. In the light of these considerations, this paper describes the construction and use of a topographical map of the innovation landscape. The purpose of the map is to provide a holistic view of the key factors that enable innovation (the so-called ’landmarks’), how well they are aligned to support a particular type/nature of innovation in the organization, and to identify possible gaps. The significance (importance) and height (performance) of the landmarks in supporting and enabling innovation within the organization is determined by means of a selfappraisal audit. The topography of the landscape derived thus is subsequently interpreted in terms of the organization’s particular innovation strategy and environmental context. The application of the Innovation Landscape Methodology is illustrated in a number of organizations within the Mining and Minerals Industry of South Africa. Important observations and conclusions regarding the strategic alignment of enabler strengths within these organizations are made.

Jan 1, 2003

By Zhaohui Qiu, Yaguan Ji, Hong Zhong, Qingxia Liu, Yada Liu

"Water is a necessary process medium in mineral processing. For the operations where fresh water is not available, sea water could be used as an alternative processing medium to replace the fresh water if we would have built a solid understanding of the interfacial science and flotation chemistry of sulfide minerals in sea water. In this research, micro flotation of chalcopyrite and pyrite in deionized water and sea water were investigated. For chalcopyrite, the recovery starts to drop from pH 10 in deionized water and from pH 9 in sea water, and the flotation recovery close to 100% before it drops. We can found from the results that chalcopyrite flotation is depressed much at pH 11 in sea water when much white precipitate is found. For pyrite, the flotaion recovery changs a lot in deionized water with 1*10-5 M potasium amyl xanthate (PAX) as collector. It’s relatively high at pH 8~10 compared with that at pH<8 and pH>10. While in sea water, the trend is almost the same as that of chalcopyrite. Zeta potential measurements and chemical equilibrium calculation were used to find out that magnesium hydroxide species coats on the surfaces at high pH in sea water are the main reason for depressing the chalcopyrite and pyrite flotation. Through understanding the interfacial science and the solution chemistry of sea water and its impact on processing efficiency, this research will not only helps reduce the use of fresh water to minimize the disposal of spent water for environment protection, but also enhance the recovery of valuable minerals in froth flotation."

Jan 1, 2014

By Tasuma Suzuki

Electrokinetic/permeable reactive barrier system is a promising in situ soil and ground water remediation technique to reduce toxic NO3- into less toxic NH4+. Using granular zero-valent iron (Fe0) as a reductant, the first objective of this study was to investigate the influence of the solid-liquid ratio and aqueouspHon NO3- reduction. The results obtained from a series of batch experiments showed that NO3- reduction was enhanced by either increasing solid-liquid ratio or decreasing aqueous pH. Based on insights obtained from batch experiments, the second objective of this study was set to design the remediation conditions of the electrokinetic/Fe0permeable reactive barrier system to maximize the NO3- reduction efficiency. Experimental results showed that the effectiveness of the system strongly depended on the Fe0 percentage in the reactive barrier, the pH in the anode reservoir, and the applied voltage, which were consistent with the results obtained from batch experiments. Under optimized treatment conditions, nearly 100 % NO3-was reduced into NH4+ in the permeable reactive barrier and collected in the cathode reservoir. Insights obtained from this study provided fundamental information on roles each of remediation design parameters plays, and will be useful to optimize the remediation conditions. Keywords: electrokinetic remediation, permeable reactive barrier, zero-valent iron, nitrate

Sep 1, 2012