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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

"This research aims at improving the beneficiation of coals and minerals in fine and ultrafine size fractions. A widely used method for upgrading fine and ultrafine particles is froth flotation, which is generally classified into mechanical flotation and column flotation. The present work is focussed on column flotation. A flotation column equipped with a conventional bubble diffuser/sparger was used with oscillatory air supply generated using a fast-switching solenoid valve. The flotation tests were carried out for coal particles and mineral particles, respectively, and a comparison in flotation performance was made between oscillatory air supply and steady air supply. It was found that use of oscillatory air supply with a proper valve switching frequency and on/off time ratio to replace steady air supply could lead to increased recovery of coals or minerals by more than 14 percentage points and substantial reagent cost savings. The improved flotation performance was attributed to enhanced gas dispersion and flow conditions. This research offers a simple new approach to improving the beneficiation of fine coals and minerals with using flotation columns.INTRODUCTIONFroth flotation has been widely used for the separation and concentration of fine coals and minerals by exploiting the difference in their affinity to air bubbles in aqueous medium. Froth flotation is an effective method for beneficiation of coal and mineral particles in a certain size range. It remains difficult to upgrade ultrafine mineral particles. One of the reasons for the ineffective flotation of fine particles is the low probability of bubble-particle collision in the collection zone (i.e., the pulp zone). According to Reay and Ratcliff (1973) and Yoon and Luttrell (1989), the probability of collision is significantly affected by bubble size and particle size, and the collection zone recovery can be increased by decreasing the bubble size."

Jan 1, 2018

By X. Y. Zeng

Most Chinese titanium bearing minerals are the composition of magnetite vanadium and ilmenite. All of such mineral processing plants use low intensity magnetic separators to recover magnetite and vanadium goes with magnetite. In the past years most of the plant tails containing about 10% TiO2 were abandoned. Now many of these plants use SLon magnetic separators to recover ilmenite in the roughing stage, which can throw away most of the gangs and slimes with very low cost. The new development of applications of SLon magnetic separators in Chinese ilmenite processing industry is introduced in the paper.

Jan 1, 2014

By Mike Daniel, Eric Wang

"Several new large copper and gold concentrators have been built and commissioned around the world in the past five to eight years. The success of the ramp-up from these very large concentrators has varied. CITIC SMCC Process Technology was engaged to assist some of these mines by gaining a better understanding of the factors that influence throughput capacity. As such, site-specific throughput forecast models that are influenced by SAG mill performance were developed. The forecast models are easy to interpret and modify and can greatly assist the mine management to make predictions and informed decisions for a range of site improvements. The models investigate the influence of SAG mill performance with respect to ore competency, derived from SMC Test® via the measured DWi model parameter. In some cases the benefits of blasting and from fine tuning milling operations are already incorporated into the "site-specific" forecast models. The methodology follows rigorous plant data analysis that is analogous to a "Mine-to-Mill®" optimisation project. The CITIC-SMCC model validation includes extensive data collection, which includes drill core analysis, ore characterisation and comprehensive comminution circuit operational data to assess the limitations within the comminution circuit within the operating mine. The results and models may be used to define the operating base lines of the processing areas and identify improvement opportunities upstream and downstream of the comminution circuit. The predictive capability of the models use logged production data and has enabled the user to differentiate between alternative circuit configuration options and identify optimum operating conditions. This approach minimises the ongoing requirement for costly plant surveys. The improvement strategy for each site, included the ongoing measurement of grindability, rock strength and via the Bond and SMC Test® respectively. Some commentary as to what other practitioners do with input data and their models is also presented as this highlights some of their shortcomings relative to the CITIC-SMCC methods."

Jan 1, 2014

By Sharma K. K.

India is the third largest producer with accounting to fifth largest reserves base of coal in the world. Indian coal has high ash content (15-45%) and low calorific value. The basic processes being used in India at different places for coal washing adopts old techniques. Much of the valuable part is being lost during washing processes. With enhancement of the available techniques and use of new processes like flotation process indicates better recovery of carbon values during washing stage. The same will increase the reserve base, improve economy of operation and alleviate environment related problems. In the above backdrop this paper portrays the case study of an existing coal processing plant in India. The case study includes the modifications being incorporated in the existing process to enhance the product value. The existing practices and the future trend of process technology that could be adopted to meet the requirements in this country are also discussed. Keywords: washing, dense media cyclone, magnetite media, flotation

Sep 1, 2012

By Grigory Voyloshnikov, Sergey Petrov, Vladimir Petrov

"The treatment of high-grade copper gold-bearing ores is practiced extensively. However, due to low concentration of copper the application of a separate process for copper recovery can make this process uneconomical. The copper, in particular: in oxide minerals, intensively bounds with cyanide during conventional cyanidation. In this case, cyanide is not able to react with precious metals and the consumption of cyanide increases. The resulting copper cyanide complexes have a negative effect on the recovery of gold. Due to decreasing of the process parameters, a repeated use of the recycled solutions can be hindered, especially in the case of heap leaching. The technology of copper removal from the process solutions with simultaneous regeneration of free cyanide from copper-cyanide complex and producing of a saleable high-grade copper concentrate was developed. An important feature of this technology is simplicity, the absence of complex or dangerous operations and the use of common reagents. The choice of equipment depends on the ore treatment option: heap or vat leaching. Also, simpler equipment schemes are available. The studies, tests and industrial practice show that if the concentration of copper can be decreased down to the first numbers of mg per ppm or lower, it is reasonable to maintain the process copper grade in the recycled solutions at 30-50 mg/L. In this case, recycling of cyanide-bearing solutions is unlimited. The regeneration of free cyanide from that of bound with copper and other cyanide complexes is 95-98%. The grade of copper in the concentrate is 55-60%. This technology is an economically competitive option, in particular: with the account of the sales of copper concentrate. The removal of copper has a positive effect on gold recovery, especially during heap leaching. In addition to, this offers significant benefits in reduced costs."

Jan 1, 2014

By T. C. Alex

Mechanical activation of gibbsite [?-Al(OH)3] is the theme of this paper. Industrially prepared gibbsite used in the study has a mono modal size distribution with a median size, d50=110 µm. Mechanical activation of this gibbsite has been carried out in a planetary mill at ambient conditions. Mechanical activated gibbsite samples are characterised in terms of particulate characteristics, structural characteristics and reactivity. As a result, of milling, mono modal size distribution of the unmilled gibbsite changes to a broad multimodal distribution. Size reduction has been sharp in the initial stages of milling; median size reduces to ~7 µm during 15 min of milling. Thereafter no decrease in median size is observed; rather it is found to increase gradually with further increase in milling time, indicating particle aggregation. Morphological studies of milled gibbsite have shown that the platelets forming the agglomerate are separated first; the separated platelets then undergo breakage. Aggregation of particles sets in the later stages of milling as a result of increased surface area and surface energy. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) studies have clearly revealed the changes in gibbsite structure during milling. Analyses of XRD data show that the crystallite size of gibbsite decreases as the milling time progresses whereas its microstrain is found to increase. Accumulation of energy in the structure is the result in both cases. TEM micrographs with signs of defects leading to disordering of gibbsite structure complement the XRD results. Reactivity of milled gibbsite, decrease in its deydroxylation temperature and increase in alkali dissolution, is found to increase with mechanical activation. Increased reactivity of milled gibbsite is found to have a strong correlation with the BET specific surface area. Keywords: mechanical activation, gibbsite, alkali dissolution, thermal dehydroxylation, reactivity

Sep 1, 2012

By Thi Hien Tran, Huy Hoan Nguyen, Thi Thu Hien-Dinh, Hong Son Nguyen, Duy Anh Dao

"Lithium discovered in La Vi deposit, Quang Ngai province in the Central of Vietnam was estimated with a reserve of approximately 1.5 million tones of lithium ore, which was characterized by mainly lepidolite with muscovite, albite, and quartz. This study investigated reasonable flowsheet and optimal conditions of enrichment technology for lepidolite from the mined ore by flotation process, and producing Li2CO3 and LiCl from lepidolite concentrate by hydrometallurgical process. The significant conditions for froth flotation of lithium ore including particle size, pH of ore slurry, pulp density, chemical spending (collectors, activators, depressants, and frothers), stirring and flotation time were investigated. The identified reasonable flowsheet and optimal conditions for froth flotation the La Vi lithium ore processed lepidolite concentrate containing up to 4 wt.% Li2O with a recovery of 87.61 wt.%. The processes of sulfation roasting lepidolite concentrate using FeSO4.7H2O, then leaching in H2SO4 solution, and removing impurities were carried out to prepare a pure lithium-bearing solution for producing Li2CO3 and LiCl. The products containing 99.05 wt.% of Li2CO3 and 99.02 wt.% of LiCl were obtained with recoveries of 82.97 wt.% and 85.77 wt.%, respectively. The obtained results indicated that lithium ore in La Vi deposit can be processed to produce commercial lithium products and lead the study to develop technology for a new industry of lithium processing in Vietnam.INTRODUCTION Lithium is the lightest metal, which has many superior properties in both metal and compound (such as Li2CO3, LiCl...) states since its discovery in 1817 by Swedish chemist Johan August Arfwedson. Lithium is a favourable material for many high technology fields such as aerospace industry and chemical industry. Some industrial fields which present the main consumptions of lithium include ceramic, glass, aluminum alloy, lubricants, rechargeable Li-ion batteries, synthetic rubber, and pharmaceuticals. The worldwide production of lithium in 2014 was 31,700 tones, continually increased in 2015 of 5% presented 32,500 tones (USGS, 2016). The demand for lithium tends to increase because of the raising in consumption of lithium batteries. Lithium is mined from salar brines, mainly in Chile and Bolivia, but also from granites and pegmatites, which contain minerals with high lithium content such as spodumene - LiAlSi2O6 (Heinrich et al., 1978; Linnen et al., 2012); petalite - LiAlSi4O10 (Sitando & Crouse, 2012); zinnwaldite - KLiFe2+Al(AlSi3O10)(F,OH)2 (Paukov et al., 2010; Kondás J. & Jandová J., 2006); lepidolite - K(Li,Al)3(Si,Al)4O10(F,OH)2 (Luong et al., 2013); and amblygonite - LiAlPO4F (Garrett, 2004)."

Jan 1, 2018

By Rasool Hejazi

The feed to Chadurmalu iron ore concentrator plant is a mixture of magnetite and haematite iron ore with a Fe/FeO ratio of about 8. The feed to plant, after grinding via wet SAG mill, is pre-separated by wet low intensity magnetic separator. Magnetic product is conducted to magnetite processing circuit for producing magnetite concentrate, and nonmagnetic product is directed to haematite processing circuit. Due to surface oxidization of magnetite particles and a decrease in magnetic attraction properties, significant amount of these particles are misled to tailing which results in decreasing the efficiency of haematite processing circuit. This problem can be remedied by using magnetic drum separator with more magnetic intensity and/or gradient. In this paper, the replacement of LIMS separators with wet medium intensity magnetic separators with a field intensity of 3800 gauss on drum surface (MIMS) have been suggested and considered as the most suitable solution to prevent the loss of magnetite particles. The results of carried out investigations with replacement of drum separators in industrial scale, showed that utilizing MIMS in magnetite processing circuit resulted in increasing final concentrate weight recovery on average by 2.59%, without any adverse effect on the concentrate quality; decreasing the magnetite content in the feed to high gradient magnetic separator (HGMS) by about 3.5%; decreasing the feed to floatation part by about 7% and consequently decreasing consumption of chemical reagents; increasing Fe/FeO ratio of the feed to plant. Keywords: iron ore, medium intensity magnetic separator, haematite, Chadurmalu

Sep 1, 2012

By Tuan V. Nguyen, Kosta Simic, Louis Mittoni, Murray Rudman, Jean D. Swift, John B. Farrow, Phillip D. Fawell

"Research projects towards developing a sound understanding of the factors controlling the performance of gravity thickeners have been conducted by the AJ Parker Cooperative Research Centre for Hydrometallurgy since 1988 through AMIRA International. The current phase of this work, the three year P266D .Improving Thickener Technology. project, has 27 sponsors comprising mineral processing companies, reagent suppliers and thickener manufacturers.These projects have resulted in the development of a range of tools and techniques to address flocculation, thickening and associated dewatering issues. A number of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models have been developed to predict likely full-scale thickener performance under various process conditions, based upon a knowledge of thickener design, plant flows and assessment of the flocculation behaviour of the feed slurry. At the same time, various laboratory and plant studies have been used to quantify important thickener processes, and to provide validation of the CFD models. These numerical and experimental capabilities have been applied to various thickener issues across a broad range of mineral processing operations, leading to significant process improvements and substantial financial benefits.This paper presents an overview of the work conducted during these projects, focussing on the research tools, the nature of the information that has been gained and the implications for thickener performance."

Jan 1, 2003

By Liang Dianyin

In this paper, the molybdenite flotation tailing of cleaner-scavenger bank which has a mass of very fine particles has been taken as raw ore to be processed by flotation with/without ultrasonic. The effect of ultrasonic frequency, intensity, processing time and uploading location on molybdenite flotation efficiency is investigated by four-factor three-level orthogonal experiment, and the effect significances of these ultrasonic variables to molybdenite flotation efficiency have also been evaluated. Single-factor analysis of variance is conducted to investigate whether the effect of ultrasonic on molybdenum ore flotation efficiency is significant or not. The samples extracted from different ore species in different time have been mixed to analyze the particle size. The results show that the particle size of +38µm in concentrate obviously increases while the particle size of -25µmobviouslydecreaseswith ultrasonic, which means that ultrasonic is good for flotation due to sludge removing effect. Keywords: ultrasonic, flotation efficiency, sulfide ore, tailing, grade, sludge removing

Sep 1, 2012

By Y. X. Li

In order to control the pulp level in flotation column which has long time-delay and great inertia, and is difficult to establish an accurate mathematical model, a Fuzzy-PID dual mode controller is applied. This method takes advantage of both strong flexibility and good reliability of fuzzy logic and high precision of PID. With the very stable and reliable process instruments, the control system has a good control performance and results the stable control of flotation column.

Jan 1, 2014

By Vincent C. Smith, Agit Singh, Bernard Muller

The control of minerals processing plants is by no means trivial. In order to address some of the difficulties, it was decided to develop and test a model predictive controller (MPC) for a milling circuit. A milling simulator was written to test the MPC controller. Due to the large number of tuning parameters in a controller of this type, an optimising algorithm was written that automatically tunes the controller. Good, robust control was obtained when the controller was tuned using this algorithm. The controller was tested for various scenarios that are often encountered in the minerals processing industry. When problems were encountered, the MPC algorithm was specially adapted to accommodate for these difficulties. Control was further improved by using feedforward control as well as quadratic programming. The movement of the manipulated variables was reduced by using a region of uncertainty that allows the controlled variable to vary within a specified region around the setpoint. Integrators were handled by adapting the algorithm slightly and adding an optional integral error portion in the MPC controller. The performance of the enhanced MPC controller was compared to PI controllers on both the simulator and a commercial plant. The MPC controller showed faster responses with less interaction in both cases.

Jan 1, 2003

Vanadium-titanium magnetite from Panzhihua was crushed with open and closed circuit process by high pressure grinding roller (HPGR). The particle size characteristics of the crushed product were analyzed and the micro-cracks generated by HPGR during the crushing process were studied. The results showed that, in crushed products, the reduction ratio increases and the size distribution becomes more uniform with increasing of the pressure on roller?s surfaces. The fine fraction content of crushing products from -3.2 mm classification closed-circuit by HPGR increases obviously compared with that by Jaw Crusher and particle size distribution is more uniform. Large amount of intra-crystalline cracks and cleavage cracks are generated in vanadium-titanium magnetite crushed by HPGR, which makes the specific surface area larger and Bond grinding work index (objective particle size is 0.074 mm) decreased by 14.05% than that by Jaw Crusher. And the liberation degree of monomer of the product crushed by HPGR increased compared with that by Jaw Crusher with the similar fineness of grinding. Keywords: iron ore, high pressure grinding roller, micro-crack

Sep 1, 2012

By Ayumu Tokumaru, Shuji Owada, Gangfeng Liu

"Several million spent catalytic converters are disposed annually worldwideandeach containing about 0.5-1g ofplatinum and 1-2g of all the platinum group metals (PGMs), then,it is fairly significant to recover PGMs from the spent automobile catalyst. The PGMs’ recovery is a proven technology, including pyro-and hydrometallurgicalmethods, and the highestrecovery can achieve approx. 98 wt.% by acid-leaching method, but theserecyclingtechnology seems to be too highlyenergy-consuming. SincePGMs aredistributed only in coat layer in spent catalyst, it is of great significance to enrich the coat layerwith some physical methods as a pretreatment.In this paper, according to the double-deck structureof the catalyst andthe different properties of the two main compositions, alumina-ceria phase of coat layer and cordieritephase of substrate, the concentration of the coat layer was investigated by combiningthree kinds of physical separation technologies, heating-quenching, crushing and surface grinding. In the first stage, thermal stresscouldgeneratebetween the two phasesby thermal expansion difference,to producefracturesin the thinnest part of coat layerand micro-cracksin coat layerand at the interface of coat layerand cordierite substrate. The second stage of crushing, by jaw and roll crushers, could break dominantly the coat layer and the third stage of surface grinding, carried out by attritor, promoted further separation and concentration of coat layer fromthe substrate.We also improved the attritor grinding by adding a new lift-arm to the cell for achieving better mobility of sample particles in the selective surface grinding."

Jan 1, 2014

By Peter Ay, Florian Logsch, Satyanarayana Narra

"The traditional lignin separation process from the precipitated suspension creates severe filtration problems by plugging of the filter medium due to the small particle size (20 to 60 µm) of the suspended lignins. The plugging causes further problems in the successive processing of the filter cake. A new lignin separation process has been developed at the Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU) Cottbus as a part of the Research and Development and Demonstration (R & D & D) project "LignoBioFuel". The new developed process separates lignin in the form of granules with diameters ranging from 100 µm to 300 µm. The restrainment of the granule’s size in their successive treatments is expected to result in higher filtration efficiencies and reduction in plugging of filter mediums. To evaluate the filtration efficiency, the filtration resistance of the produced granules as well as the conventional suspensions has been investigated. The results show that there is a 60 to 80 % filtration efficiency increase and around 60 % reduction in plugging of filter mediums with the lignin granules in comparison to the conventional suspensions. Furthermore the successive processing of lignin granules was easier due to their porous structures removing the impurities such as adherent acids and salts. The purity of the separated lignin was measured with their sulphur (reduced from 7 % to 2.7 %) and ash (reduced from 46 % to 0.5 %) contents. The newly developed process has displayed better results in comparison to that of the conventional process. The new process displays high potentials in optimizing and improving the present state of the art treatments and is promising several ecological, economical and environmental improvements."

Jan 1, 2014

By S. Kelebek, A. Khan, J. Caceres, D. Beckett

"Pyrrhotite in nickel-copper sulphide ores is nickeliferrous and intimately associated with pentlandite. Due to its low nickel content, pyrrhotite rejection is an important step in processing of these ores. In our laboratory, various reagents were investigated for their effect on pyrrhotite depression. Among these, a combined use of triethylenetetramine and sodium metabisulphite was found highly promising.The work described in this paper has two parts. The firs part is a summary of results obtained on process samples from the pyrrhotite rejection circuit at Falconbridge’s Strathcona Mill. The second part involves simulation of the circuit performance based on the reagent conditions used in the experimental work and the concept of split factors.Two sets of reagent conditions were evaluated. The first one involved baseline conditions, simulating the current reagent performance. The second one simulated the impact these new reagents can have on the circuit performance.The simulation results obtained under baseline conditions indicated a good agreement with the current circuit performance (Figure 1). The simulation results suggest that at practically the same pentlandite recovery and tailing grades, the circuit concentrate nickel grade can be doubled through effective pyrrhotite rejection by these new reagents (Figure 2)."

Jan 1, 2003

By A. E. Sobolev

The kinetics of hydrochemical oxidation of antimonite in solutions of nitric acid was studied using the rotating disk method and the factor experiment design. The dependences of the antimonite?s oxidation rate on concentration of nitric acid solutions, temperature, disk rotation frequency, and duration of interaction were determined. The adequate kinetic models allowing calculating the specific oxidation rate at any combination of the values of the influencing factors were obtained. The oxidation process is found to proceed in a mixed mode, close to chemically controlled. Gradually, as the sediments of elemental sulphur and Sb2O5 accumulate on the disk surface, the process becomes controlled by internal diffusion. The observed high (more than second) order of the oxidation rate with respect to the concentration of nitric acid was explained by the autocatalytic action of the acid reduction products. The apparent activation energy depends on the stage of interaction. At the initial stage (in a mixed mode of the process proceeding), it depends on nitric acid concentration and varies from 31.5 kJ?mol?1 (in 2 M HNO3) to 36.1 kJ?mol?1 (in 10 M HNO3). This trend indicates the weakening of diffusion limitations with a nitric acid concentration increase. When the process is controlled by internal diffusion, the apparent activation energy was found to be 14.5 kJ?mol?1. The obtained kinetic characteristics enlarge the database on hydrochemical oxidation kinetics of sulphides and can be used for the elaboration of the recommendations for the effective comprehensive exploitation of antimony-bearing ores and concentrates.

Jan 1, 2014

By Aysan Molaei, Kristian Waters

Solvent extraction is the one of the most common techniques for recovering metal ions from aqueous systems. However, solvent extraction is generally limited to relatively high concentrations and requires a high organic/aqueous ratio. Predispersed solvent extraction (PDSE) is a modified solvent extraction technique in which organic phase pre-comminute into colloidal liquid aphrons (CLAs). In this study, the extraction of copper by the PDSE technique was investigated. The main focus of this study was on the characterization and application of CLAs under different operational conditions, and to investigate the effects of different parameters on the extraction of copper from dilute streams. The effect of phase volume ratio (PVR), initial extractant concentration and initial copper concentration was studied and optimum conditions for copper removal using CLAs generated by LIX 984N as extractant, oil soluble and water soluble surfactants were proposed. Experimental observations indicated that PVR and initial LIX 984N concentrations had a significant effect on copper extraction.

Jan 1, 2014

By K. Saberyan

In this study, solvent extraction of zirconium by using triphenylphosphine oxide as extractant has been investigated. The results showed that extraction of zirconium by triphenylphosphine oxides in nitric acid and hydrochloric acid media were negligible. Extraction of zirconium in acetic acid media with concentration of 0.01~0.2 M has been studied and the results showed that the maximum percent of zirconium extraction was 40% in acid acetic with concentration of 0.01 M. By addition complexing agents such as potassium thiocyanate with the concentration of 0.01~0.2 M zirconium extraction increased up to 86% in 0.2 M potassium thiocyanate. By addition of sodium salicylate with concentration of 0.01 M and in pH=2.5, the maximum extraction of 96% was achieved. The striping of zirconium from organic phase can be carried out by 0.5 M solution of sulfuric acid.

Jan 1, 2014