Search Documents

By N. V. Moraka

Mining companies are required by law to improve representation of women on their boards. However, progress in this regard has been slow. Boards of directors play an important role in formulating corporate strategy, risk assessment, and effective governance for sustained financial performance. Although some women have successfully maintained board seats, others have been unable to do so. It is difficult to ascertain whether women are being appointed as tokens to satisfy social pressures, as little is known about the experiences of women board members in mining, which may inform or refute tokenism. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 women and 16 men across six listed mining companies. Thematic data analysis revealed evidence of tokenism where recruitment to mining boards is compliance-based and is informally driven by influential directors. Adverse boardroom experiences that further confirmed tokenism were reported by women, such as disregarding their contributions, condescending behaviour, and limited influence in decision-making, while other women sought to validate their competence and oppose social exclusion. This study recommends that a strong Board Chair and nominations committee is critical to ensure sustainable recruitment of competent and suitably qualified women; and further foster a culture of inclusivity and valuing gender-diverse boards.

Dec 13, 2023

By V. W. Lumadi, S. Nyasha

The mining industry has yet to fully accept and embrace the strategic role of technology and innovation in successful business planning and execution. In this study, we empirically determine the factors that influence acceptance of technology solutions in the mining industry in South Africa, assess critical success factors influencing adoption of advanced technology in the South African mining industry, and explore challenges faced by the mining industry in South Africa in adopting advanced technology in its operations. Thematic content analysis is employed in the data analysis. Results show that critical success factors to the adoption of mining technology include learning culture, knowledge sharing, high labour costs, and behaviour of other firms in the industry; commonly identified challenges include inadequate engagement with external stakeholders, uncertainties, the cyclical nature of the sector, and high risk related to the adoption of unproven technology and performance systems focused on volumetric production. The study encourages mining companies to implement usage of technology. This can be properly done through regular engagement with the Minerals Council South Africa.

Apr 14, 2024

By M. Arlandi-Rodríguez, and A. García-Berrocal, A. Alonso-Jiménez, C. Lopez-Jimeno

Spain is a major producer of dimension stone, which is one of the most important industrial sectors in the northwest of Spain. This justifies the maintenance of these industries, although the technical and environmental requirements for their continuity are increasingly demanding. The main target of this paper is to present a new methodology in order to obtain k-ratio stress values on the basis of flat jack measurements and finite element numerical back- analysis with Rocscience© RS2 software. Continuous iterations were performed to try to find a relationship between the k₀ and the measured stress in the tunnel roof and sidewalls. It focuses on technical aspects of the method for designing mine chambers in the slate industry that were previously mined by open pit methods. The size of the chambers impacts the operating cost, and the dimensioning of a correct support ensures better efficiency and safety. Correct knowledge of the k₀ therefore is critical for the design of the support. The proposed new method entails a simplification of the classical procedure for estimating the k-ratio.

Sep 1, 2022

By J. P. Coetzee

Dr. K. Gebhard In his excellent and comprehensive survey on the future development of the Iron and Steel Industry in South Africa, Mr. Coetzee has also mentioned the direct reduction processes as a possible method of converting iron ore to iron. Mr. Coetzee has made it quite clear that at this stage one should not consider these processes as a 'magic formula' which herald a 'break through'. I agree entirely with this point of view. Once upon a time I held the opposite view, but in the meantime I have revised my views. To do so, I had 40 years at my disposal. In 1930 I had the privilege of being connected with the first commercial sponge iron plant in Germany1 - a plant which was capable of producing 40 tons of sponge iron a day. We were determined to prove that the blast furnace would become obsolete in the near future. We considered it as an unnecessary detour to convert iron ore first into an iron-carbon alloy, which contained further quite a number of undesirable elements, and to remove this carbon by an endothermic process. Direct iron-making seemed to be a logical short cut. Unfortunately, we were not able to establish this 'short cut,', but the life of our sponge iron plant was cut short. We had solved all technical but not the economic problems. Basically the positon is still the same today - mainly economic and to a lesser degree technological aspects determine the rate at which sponge iron plants are installed. More has been said and written than done about direct reduction plants. I think that there are two main reasons for this stagnation in the introduction of direct reduction processes. The first reason is that modern blast furnaces are just too good and too economic ever to be replaced by direct reduction processes on a large scale. This, of course, already limits the field of application for direct reduction plants. The second reason is that sponge iron production and utilisation is based on technical considerations, which increase not only the production cost of sponge iron but also the conversion cost to steel to such an extent that under special conditions only are direct reduction plants an economic proposition. Are these technical considerations still as forceful and valid today as they were when 'direct steelmaking' was first contemplated? The development of sponge iron production as a method of direct

Jan 3, 1971

By M. Åstrand, M. Johansson

"Advanced planning and automation are increasingly important in modern mines. Sophisticated methods for long-term mine planning are often used, and the advent of autonomous machines makes the actual operation more predictable. However, the interface between these two timescales, i.e. the scheduling of the mobile production fleet, often limits the ability to operate mines at maximum profitability. We show how scheduling the production fleet in an underground mine can be modelled as a flow shop. A flow shop is a general abstract process formulation that captures the key properties of a scheduling problem without going into specific details. Thus, the flow shop enables mine scheduling to reap the benefits of scheduling research from other industries. We review recent results from the mining community and the flow shop community, and introduce scheduling methods used in these two fields. This work aims at providing value to researchers from the mining community who want to leverage their skill set, as well as to theoretical researchers by presenting the mining process as a potential application area. Lastly, we discuss the results, and outline some future challenges and opportunities facing the industry. IntroductionThe margins in underground mining are constantly under pressure since costs increase as the mine becomes deeper. One major component influencing the operational performance, and thus the profitability of an underground mine, is how the mobile machinery and staff are coordinated. Today, the coordination of the underground fleet, i.e. scheduling of the machines, is mostly done manually, with methods that are stretched to their limit and with no guarantees on performance. According to a survey of more than 200 high-level executives in mining companies around the world (Mincom, 2011), the top challenge for modern mines is to maximize production effectiveness, rather than improving the reliability of individual items of equipment. This highlights the importance of coordination on a system level.The effectiveness of mine production can be increased by introducing supportive algorithms in the scheduling process. These algorithms enable mines to construct optimized schedules with respect to custom metrics. Additionally, manual scheduling is a tedious and error-prone task where the performance is heavily dependent on the scheduler. To reduce the staff dependency, supportive algorithms can help to achieve more uniform outcomes, resulting in a more predictable process. In turn, this increases the transparency of the mining process through the entire production chain. It is worth noting that automatic scheduling has proved beneficial in many other industries, such as chemicals and metals (Floudas and Lin, 2004; Tang et al., 2001)."

Dec 1, 2018

By A. J. Buchan

The wear of steel pipelines used for the transportation of backfill slurries is frequently regarded as an erosion problem only. An investigation was undertaken of the likely contribution to the total 'wear rate' made by corrosion. Use was made of a pipe flow loop with catholically protected specimens and corrosion inhibitors. Laboratory electrochemical tests utilizing a rotating-cylinder electrode were also conducted. The slurries used were classified tailings from two mines at a relative density of 1,7. The velocities were between 2 and 4,9 m/s. Substantial decreases in the wear rate of up to 80 per cent for one slurry and up to 67 per cent for the other were obtained with the use of corrosion control, showing that corrosion and, more importantly, interaction between erosion and corrosion, contribute a significant portion of the overall wear in steel pipelines

Jan 1, 1994

By A. L. Hinde, A. A. Bradley, K. H. Stanton, P. J. D. Lloyd, G. K. Schymura

As part of its programme to develop methods for concentrating minerals underground, the Chamber of Mines of South Africa in conjunction with Lurgi evolved and tested a I MW centrifugal mill. The machine is capable, in the autogenous mode, of grinding more than 25 t/h of minus 75 plus 44 mm hard quartzite to a minus 3 mm product containing over 50 per cent minus 75 µm material, and as a ball mill of grinding more than 60 t/h of minus 19 mm quartzite to a minus 3 mm product containing over 35 per cent minus 75 µm material. Extrapolation of computer models of the process suggests that these limits can be comfortably exceeded. Long-term continuous testing is in hand, aimed at proving that this I m in diameter by I m long mill is in every respect the equivalent of a conventional 4 m by 6 m ball mill.

Jan 1, 1982

I appreciate the honour that has been bestowed upon me by my election as President of this Institute. We are starting what I believe will be a challenging year. The first challenge facing the Institute is financial. From the accounts for you will note that the Institute operated at a loss for the first time since 1987. average membership subscription was increased by only 10 per cent, reflecting desire to keep costs down in the minerals industry. The Institute will therefore to rely on other income to meet its budget requirements and break even financially. source of these funds will be the activities of the Technical Programme Committees. disciplines-Mining, Extraction Metallurgy, and Metals Technology are planning programmes for the coming year. I urge al members to increase their support of colloquia schools. Increased membership would also bring in more funds. Please, therefore, encourage colleagues who are not yet members of the Institute to join it.

Jan 1, 1991

By Y. Zhan1, T. Moodley, M. A. H. Zahid

Mining operations are under growing pressure to improve safety and efficiency while dealing with aging infrastructure, complex processes, and workforce constraints. Although many sites are equipped with surveillance cameras and control systems, critical events often go unmonitored or under-analysed due to the lack of intelligent interpretation tools. Cameras typically act as passive recorders, requiring manual review by control room operators; a process that is labour-intensive, error-prone, and reactive. Vision AI is emerging as a transformative solution, combining computer vision and artificial intelligence to deliver real-time, actionable insights. This technology has evolved along two key phases: traditional object detection, and more recently, multimodal large language model integration. This paper presents solution architectures, deployment results, and key insights from real-world implementations across underground operations, open-pit truck-shovel operations, and smelter operations, demonstrating how Vision AI is reshaping mining operations to become safer, more efficient, and more intelligent.

Mar 6, 2026

By D. Duncanson, R. J. Davidson, C. G. S. Schmidt, G. A. Brown, J. D. Taylor, N. W. Hanf

The development of a cyanidation route for the treatment of gold-plant gravity concentrates is described. This work was carried out as a natural consequence of earlier improvements to the recovery of gold in the gravity sections of existing gold plants. Concern about the environmental aspects of the conventional amalgamation process was further motivation in the development of an alternative procedure. It was found that the partial pressure of oxygen in solution was the most critical reactionrate determining factor. The rate of gold dissolution was shown to be controlled by the reaction rate below approximately 25°C and by diffusion above that temperature. Thus, the efficiency of pulp agitation and oxygen partial pressure permitted a high degree of control over the rate of gold dissolution. The use of oxygen rather than air significantly increased the dissolution rate of both gold and silver. The solubilities of sodium, calcium, and potassium aurocyanide complexes under simulated reaction conditions were studied, and it was established that the values for the sodium and calcium complexes were limited, requiring the use of lower pulp densities and higher reaction temperatures for the treatment of very high-grade concentrates. The presence of excessive amounts of tramp iron in such concentrates of up to 25 per cent by mass was found to result in poor gold dissolution owing to the cementation of gold under certain reaction conditions. The maintenance of high oxygen partial pressures, together with high cyanide concentrations, high pH levels, and the presence of calcium in the system, all aided in passivating the tramp iron. Copper, gold, and iron were shown to be the main cyanide-consuming elements. Optimum gold dissolution was obtained in a closed bench-scale reactor incorporating a flotation-machine type of agitator for effective pulp agitation and oxygenation, the oxygen being recirculated. The reactor was designed to operate under a very small positive pressure. After reaction times of 2 to 6 hours at temperatures in the region of 30°C, both the gold and the silver dissolution averaged 99,S per cent. In the case of very high-grade concentrates, it was shown that gold could be floated in the same reactor by drawing off the flotation concentrate through a port in the reactor. A flotation recovery of 87,4 per cent of the gold in 3,9 per cent by mass was obtained. The recovery of osmiridium from cyanide-leach residues and the electrowinning of gold from the pregnant liquors were also considered as processing aspects in the treatment of gold-plant belt concentrates. Final table tailings with a gold concentration of 10to 12 gft were obtained. The results of the investigation strongly suggested that an alternative cyanidation route for the treatment of gold-plant concentrates was technically feasible, provided the system included effective agitation and oxygenation. In the case of lower-grade concentrates, cyanidation followed by the electrowinning of gold appears to be the simplest route, while, for high-grade concentrates, flotation and smelting of the concentrate followed by cyanidation of the flotation tailings are suggested. The use of oxygen rather than air for sparging the pulp would depend largely on the grade of material to be treated. A preliminary comparison of the costs related to the amalgamation and cyanidation processes for the recovery of gold from such concentrates indicated very similar capital and operating costs. It was concluded that other considerations, e.g. toxicity, safety, and lower labour requirements, were more important than such small cost differences. Furthermore, the 'opening' of the gold-plant gravity circuit, which would be made possible by a cyanidation route, would further reduce the operating costs because of the subsequent decrease in the tonnage to be treated.

Jan 1, 1978

By Arvi Parbo

I would like to use the occasion to reflect on how the world environment for the minerals industry is undergoing substantial change, and how this change may affect the industry. I have given my talk the title 'The Quest For Competitive Edge', because the net effect of the changes taking place is that competition is increasing. To set the scene, let us look back at the situation which has existed in our industry in the past.

Jan 1, 1993

By R. G. B. Pickering, H. H. Haase

CONTRIBUTION BY D. O'CONNOR Mechanical extraction of rock has been a goal sought after for some decades in the South African gold-mining industry. There are factors distinct from the mode of mechanical extraction that may have considerable influence on its prospects for extensive adoption; the rockburst factor is one of these. REPLY BY H.H. HAASE AND R.G.B PICKERING We agree with Professor O'Connor that, in conventional gold-mining operations, a disproportionate number of seismic events occur in the period immediately following a blast; rockburst activity follows the same pattern, and it has been calculated that, if the rockburst peak were spread evenly across the day, the rockburst exposure of stope workers would nearly double.

Jan 1, 1992

By L. J. Gerber, O. D. Eniowo, L. D. Meyer, S. R. Kilambo

Artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) operations continue to grow across sub-Saharan Africa and serve as a source of livelihood to many rural communities. Owing to safety, health, environmental, and social concerns, the occupation has been regarded as a menace in several sub-Sahara African countries. Recent studies in the field of ASM prescribe formalization as a way to tame its excesses while enhancing its potential. This paper explores the concept of formalization as it relates to ASM and how it is being affected by the funding situation. The paper seeks to address the question as to whether formalization of artisanal mining operations can achieve the desired results in view of the lingering credit constraints in this mining subsector. It is recommended that, as a way of extending the scope of formalization, focus should be placed not only on access to credit in ASM but also towards optimizing the creditworthiness of ASM firms, with the goal of improving the viability of the operations.

Mar 2, 2022

By K. Muchima, C. Siame, L. Little, B. Kaputula, Q. Mclennan

"The variability of copper mineralization at Kansanshi mine significantly affects the efficiencies of the processes used to recover copper. Quantifying this variability is therefore essential for monitoring and optimizing the performance of the concentrator, which comprises three different flotation circuits (sulphide, mixed, and oxide) and an atmospheric leach circuit. Onsite automated scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (Auto-SEM-EDS) is used to analyse routine weekly composite samples for each circuit, providing detailed analyses of bulk mineralogy, copper deportment to different minerals, mineral liberation, and associations. Weekly mineralogical trends are used to assess changes in process performance, and characterization of the copper losses has inspired a number of projects to target the specific particle types responsible for the main losses. In this paper we describe the relationship between mineralogy and plant performance at Kansanshi, and discus IntroductionKansanshi is a copper and gold mine located in the Northwestern Province of Zambia, with an annual production in the region of 250 000 t of copper and 160 000 ounces of gold. Ore mined from the epigenetic vein-hosted deposit is classified into three ore types based on the extent of oxidation and supergene enrichment. Sulphide, oxide, and mixed ore are fed to separate mineral processing circuits tailored for recovery of the dominant copper minerals in each. After comminution to a target grind size of 80% passing 150 µm, each ore type is subjected to flotation to recover the copper sulphide minerals (chalcopyrite, bornite, chalcocite, covellite). The oxide float tails and a large proportion of the mixed float tails are then treated by atmospheric leaching to extract copper from the remaining copper-hosting minerals, which include cuprite, malachite, chrysocolla, and delafossite. Some native copper is recovered by flotation and some of it is recovered by leaching. A small portion of the combined concentrate from all circuits is subjected to high-pressure leaching and the rest is sent to the smelter. Sulphuric acid produced during smelting is used for the atmospheric leach."

Nov 1, 2018

By J. F. Morrison, C. H. Wyndham, N. B. Strydom

INTRODUCTION The shovelling of rock in stopes is still a basic and important operation in many gold mines in the removal of gold-bearing rock from the stopes. There is, however, little factual knowledge of the factors which influence the the rates of energy expenditure and work output, and of the way in which variations in these factors, individually or in combination, affect the mechanical efficiency of the mine workers. What for example is the influence of different rates of shovelling, shovel loads and distances of throw? How does stope width and dip of the stope affect the mechanical efficiency of men shovelling rock? Recently a simple physiological test was introduced into the gold mining industry for classifying Bantu recruits into those capable of hard, moderate and light work. If this test is used to select only those Bantu mine workers who are capable of hard work for the task of shovelling rock in stopes then the rate of energy expenditure which could be expected from these men is 1.5 litres/min for the entire period of the shift. With an adequate knowledge of the influence of the various factors which affect the rate of energy expenditure of men shovelling rock in stopes it would be possible to set work standards for Bantu mine workers in stopes. This should be done in terms of the rate of shovelling, the shovel load and the distance of throw for any combination of width of stope, dip of stope, condition of foot wall and grade of rock in such a way that the resultant energy expenditure would be the 'optimum' that could be expected from the men but would be within their capacities for physical work of an endurance nature (that is, 1. 5 litres/min from the 'average' Bantu mine worker). Work standards could thereby be determined for the different stopes of a mine on a sound and systematic basis. In order to supply the information required a study was carried out by the Human Sciences Laboratory in which the work output and energy expenditures (in terms of oxygen consumption in litres/min) were measured on six highly trained Bantu mine workers under the following conditions: (a) rates of shovelling of 3, 4, 5, 6, and 10 shovels per minute. (b) loads of from 9 to 18 lb on the shovel. (c) distances of throw from 8 to 20 ft. (d) stope width of 28 in., 42 in. and 72 in. (e) dip of stopes of 0°, 15° and 30°. (f) rough and smooth footwalls and various grades of rock size. This paper gives the main results of practical importance of this study. Method The experiments were designed and conducted in conjunction with the Work Study Department of one certain underground conditions such as variable stope widths, stope angle, etc., were made available in a mine Surface Training School and suitable subjects were selected from the large number of labourers being put through the training school. Subjects Bantu recruits who had returned to the mine for a new contract and who had previous underground experience on shovelling were considered to be suitable as subjects for the experiments. The particulars of the subjects are given in Table I. TABLE I PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF SUBJECTS Weight Height Surface area Max O2 capacity Subject (Kg) (cm) (sq meters) (Litre/minute) A 71.5 167.3 1.80 3.5 B 61.5 162.3 1.65 2.8 C 63.0 164.1 1.69 2.4 D 66.5 167.4 1.75 2.8 E 70.2 164.6 1.77 3.0 F 77.8 173.1 1.92 3.8 Training The method of shovelling, accepted by the Work Study Department, was demonstrated to the subjects who then practised the movements with empty shovels, under the supervision of an instructor. After the technique was mastered, the men started shovelling rock and were trained for at least four hours per day to work at the higher shovelling rates. Training was continued for three weeks to enable the subjects to achieve a reasonable degree of physical training and conditioning. Shovelling method In both the kneeling and standing positions the subjects faced the pile of rock, grasped the shovel in the accepted manner and pushed the blade of the shovel into the base of the pile of rock, sliding the blade between the rock and the concrete floor. In the standing position (72 in. wide stope) the back leg assisted in the movement by pushing the knee against the back of the hand holding the shovel handle. In the kneeling position the elbow was tucked into the side of the body so that the muscles of

By H. L. Monro

CONTRIBUTION BY J. R. F. HANDLEY Mr Monro is to be congratulated on his concise treatment of a very complex subject. As a graduate with only Mathematics I in my curriculum, I am unable to comment on the mathematical treatment of the factors affecting his supply/demand model, but the logic does not escape me. The main conclusion is that any excess of supply to the spot gold market will depress the price in a normal market, and particularly in a falling market.

Jan 1, 1993

By N. Mutemeri, T. -L. Field, M. Chuma

The categorization of artisanal and small-scale mining has a significant impact on perception and understanding of the sector, particularly from a livelihood perspective. Several developing countries classify different types of artisanal and small-scale mining based on legal status. Given the nature such activities, the tragedy of the commons theory has been applied to understand the inevitable environmental, economic, sociocultural, safety, and health negative externalities – which are products of informality and illegality. Consequently, formalization is a panacea to sustainability. This article aims to offer a conceptual organization and foundational knowledge for characterization of artisanal and small-scale mining. It seeks to identify existing literature on the subject to avoid replication and acknowledge other scholars. Moreover, the article aims to place the study within the context of existing literature, establishing relationships with other studies and why the research is necessary. This paper pinpoints gaps left from other studies in so far as the characterization of artisanal and small-scale mining is concerned. Thus, reviewing literature abetted in finding similarities and differences on how artisanal and small-scale mining is defined from a scholarly and legal basis. The paper ascertains major claims made by earlier research on this topic, such as environmental impacts, the lack of adequate regulatory framework, and presents querying and probing questions lacking from other studies.

Jul 10, 2024

This paper describes experimental investigations into the reductive decomposition of arsenopyrite/pyrite (FeAsS/FeS2), a gold and silver bearing iron/arsenic sulphide using metallic iron powder. The main objective was to establish and experimentally confirm the thermodynamic and kinetic feasibility of reductively decomposing the sulphide matrix for precious metals recovery. In this context, cyanidation leach tests were conducted on the reductive leach residues. The arsenopyrite/pyrite flotation concentrate, mainly studied in the hydrochloric acid medium, decomposed through the non?oxidative chemical dissolution reaction and the reductive decomposition reaction for the arsenopyrite and pyrite components, respectively. Desulphurization levels below 65% were achieved at pH values below 0.15 and iron to concentrate ratios above 1, and the system was characterized by overall very slow kinetics. The reaction system had a direct linear relationship with iron to concentrate ratio and an inverse relationship with pH. An analysis of the pyrite/iron galvanic system showed that pyrite forms a partially inert cathodic surface on which the anodic dissolution of iron occurs, supported by the hydrogen evolution reaction. This phenomenon explained the low desulphurization levels and the mineral decomposition seemed to be restricted to the non?oxidative chemical dissolution reaction for the arsenopyrite component. The cyanide leach of the reductive leach residues showed very little improvement in gold recovery. The reductive leach process for arsenopyrite/pyrite has considerable limitations in terms of both desulphurization and precious metals liberation. Keywords: Pyrite, arsenopyrite reductive leaching, hydrogen sulphide, invisible gold

Jan 1, 2009

By F. Samimi Namin

One of the main tasks in exploitation of mines is to select a method suitable for the deposits, specific features including geometric, geo-mechanical and geological features. The purpose of selecting a mining method at this stage is to choose one or more method(s) having the most coordination with the deposit?s conditions and external factors, including the allocated budget and local technology for detailed feasibility studies. Several methods have been developed in the past to evaluate suitable mining methods for an ore deposit, based on its physical characteristics. These approaches can be classified into three groups: (1) profile and checklist methods, (2) numerical ranking (scoring) methods, and (3) decision-making models. Most of these methods have shortcomings. Considering the fact that most of the specifications of mineral deposits, such as dip and depth, are linguistic variables, absoluteness of the explaining parameters by previous methods can be mentioned as the most important disadvantage of these methods. This paper discusses the Fuzzy technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (Fuzzy TOPSIS) to determine the mining method. The fuzzy decision making (FDM) software tool is employed to develop a Fuzzy TOPSIS based model. Application of this model with various values (crisp, linguistic and fuzzy) of the deposit eliminated the existing disadvantages of other methods. Two empirical illustrations demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the evaluation procedure. These show that the proposed model performs better than its alternatives. Keywords: mining method selection, fuzzy TOPSIS, decision making, mining engineering, linguistic variables.

Jan 1, 2008

By K. Shame, H. H. Thiele

South Africa holds approximately 70% of the world’s total chrome reserves. Chromium is an important raw material for the production of stainless steel and ferrochrome alloys. Over the years, China’s ferrochrome market has been dependent on chrome ore imports from South Africa. In 2018, China imported about 75% of its chrome ore from South Africa. With the low platinum price and the rising demand for stainless steel, a growing demand to evaluate new beneficiation technologies for fine chromite was identified. Gravity separation of fine chromite (<75 μm) is inefficient, due to the limitations of the technology to upgrade fine particle size distributions. Potential for the recovery of chromite, specifically fines (<75μm), lost to UG2 PGM flotation tails, but also from MG and LG6 spiral circuit tailings exist. Flotation of podiform chromite ores from India and Kazhkhstan is successful in generating saleable product grade, following acid or alkaline flotation routes. Application to South African stratiform chromite is being evaluated, with the emphasis on evaluating reagent type, optimising dosages and the effect of pH in optimising flotation performance. Flotation can unlock additional value from chromite tailings material. The effect of ore characteristics such as gangue mineralogy, particle size distribution and headgrade are reported. The performance in terms of product quality and yield are evaluated and compared. The impact of this paper will not only prolong life of mine and increase revenue but will also alleviate environmental burdens associated with tailings dams. Keywords: Chromite, flotation, fine material, performance optimisation

Jan 1, 2020