Search Documents

By Eric Lindquist, John Compagnone, Gabriel Carvajal

"Condon-Johnson & Associates, Inc. (CJA) with the assistance of design consultant, Brierley Associates, designed and installed a water tight shoring system utilizing several ground improvement techniques jointly. Prior to the installation of the shoring system, a test program consisting of the installation and testing of 7 jet grout columns; 1 soil mix panel; 7 soil anchors and 3 tie downs was performed to verify design assumptions. State-of-the-art quality control measures were employed throughout the project.The shoring system consisted of:•,Deep Soil Mixing (DSM) wall utilizing triple axis tooling to install overlapping columns along the perimeter of the proposed excavation to a treatment depth of 54 feet.•,Installation of steel piles in DSM to provide rigidity to the wall.•,Installation of a jet grout bottom seal, installed from surface to a depth of 58 feet below existing grade.•,Installation of 153 soil anchors, 1-1/4” diameter and 47’-6” length, to tie the jet grout bottom seal to the native soil below to resist hydrostatic uplift, installed from existing grade to a depth of 91 feet.•,Installation of walers and pipe struts for internal bracing•,Installation and stressing of 117 tie downs, 1” diameter and 16 ft length, to tie the pump station mat slab to the jet grout bottom seal, installed from inside the excavated pit.Subsurface conditions at the site consist of uncontrolled fill materials to a depth of 20 feet comprised of sandy silt and clayey sand. The native soils underlying the fill generally consist of soft and compressible lean clay and silt with varying amounts of sands to a depth ranging from approximately 44 to 54 feet below ground surface, which in turn are underlain by dense to very dense silty sand. The groundwater elevation at the site is approximately 8 feet below ground surface.This paper covers the design aspects, construction, and quality control measures undertaken by the geotechnical contractor, with supporting figures.INTRODUCTIONThe owner, County Sanitation District No. 2 of Los Angeles County, designed upgrades to their existing Long Beach Main Pumping Plant Facility. The upgrades consist of a new pump station that includes a reinforced concrete below-grade wet well and dry well, a two-story operations building, two 78-inch diameter pipe inlets, two 42-inch diameter discharge pipelines connecting the existing manifold, two pipe junction structures, two insert-type junction structures, and electrical transformers. This paper focuses on the excavation shoring for the new pump station. The original shoring design concept for the pump station excavation illustrated on the contract plans consisted of pressed in sheet piles, a jet grouted bottom seal with soil anchors, 2 levels of internal bracing, and tie-down anchors to resist hydraulic uplift forces on the buried pump station."

Jan 1, 2017

By Jason M. Ryan, T Michael LeBlanc, John H. Heilig

"Drill trajectory deviation is a recurring problem in vertical retreat stoping operations. As a result of thisdeviation, 60 kilogram (165 millimetre diameter) and 103 kilogram (203 millimetre diameter) explosive charges are routinely detonated beyond ore/waste contact zones. Consequently, there follows a reduction in finished stope wall stability and an increase in ore dilution."

Jan 1, 1996

By Ralph H. Cleland

Introduction The mines of northern Ontario have entered the class of deep mines. It has often been asked: How deep can operations be carried on? What will the temperature be? This paper is a résumé of a brief survey of rock temperatures made by the Ontario Department of Mines during the year 1932. Present temperatures were recorded and the geothermal gradients that now exist were determined. No alarming situations were found, but many interesting ones have been noted. Northern Ontario mines are fortunately situated as compared with most deep-level mines of the world. The mean yearly temperature, as determined from meteorological records of the Federal Department of Marine, is from 33 to 38 degrees Fahrenheit. The tables on the next page show the temperature range in and about our mining camps ( l ). As no exact figures were obtainable for Kirkland Lake, the data for Iroquois Falls, which is about 50 miles northwest, were taken as applicable there. The figures for Timmins were checked against those of Cochrane and Iroquois Falls and found to be very similar, so that the Cochrane data may be used for the Porcupine camp. The yearly mean temperature is considered to be 33.5 F.

Jan 1, 1933

By David C. Cook

The milling complex, situated just east of the Cassiar townsite, receives raw ore from the tramline and processes it into 105,000 tons per year of milled asbestos fibre. The ore is passed through a concentrator, where a barren rock fraction is removed. The concentrated ore, representing 70% of the feed, is dried, stored and then milled into nine separate fibre classifications. The finished product is packaged into 100-lb bags and loaded into trucks in one-ton units. New air-handling facilities were added in 1977to provide additional air for environmental control.

Jan 1, 1978

By D. F. Kelsall

The hydraulic cyclone, in simple or modified form, is finding increasing application in metallurgical processing. In this article, the author considers several aspects of conventional applications, less conventional applications and some potential uses of modified cyclones. Information concerning the mechanism of separation within a cyclone and the effect of the major variables is summarized. During the past twenty years, and especially in the last decade, hydraulic cyclones have found increasing application in metallurgical processing as classifiers and, under special circumstances, as thickeners. To a more limited extent cyclones have been used to extend heavy, or dense, medium separation into the finer size ranges, and several attempts have been made to separate dispersions of immiscible liquids with a view to use in the field of liquid-liquid extraction. A large proportion of published work reports incomplete data, applicable only to particular systems. The more useful papers, covering data of relatively wide significance, have been reviewed recently in considerable detail1,2 and no attempt will be made to cover the same material in the present paper. However, before considering several aspects of conventional application, less conventional applications and some potential uses of modified cyclones, it is considered pertinent to summarize information relating to the mechanism of separation within a cyclone and the effect of the major variables. LIQUID FLOW PATTERNS At any point within a simple cyclone the liquid velocity may be resolved into three components, i.e., the tangential or swirling velocity (v), the vertical velocity (w), and the radial velocity (u). The relative values of these components at selected positions within a typical cyclone have been established for water. 3 The extent to which similar flow patterns exist in systems of considerably higher viscosity, or apparent viscosity, operating under conditions of reasonable pressure drop, is not known with precision, but indirect evidence indicates that up to approximately five centipoise there is no marked change. Beneath the bottom of the vortex finder, envelopes of constant tangential velocity are cylinders coaxial with the cyclone, and, at any horizontal level, starting from near the conical wall, this component of velocity increases with decrease in radius (r) according to the relationship vrn = constant (where 0 < n < 1) This holds to regions near the center of the cyclone where v reaches a maximum value at a radius somewhat smaller than that of the inside wall of the vortex finder. At this point, the centrifugal acceleration, v2/r reaches a maximum value. As the radius is further decreased the tangential velocity decreases so that v = r. Above the bottom of the vortex finder there is a tendency for the first relationship to persist to near the outside wall of the vortex finder, until v reaches a maximum and then decreases rapidly as the wall is approached. The two most significant features of the vertical velocity distribution are an approximately conical Table I. List of Symbols v = liquid tangential velocity at any point in the cyclone w = liquid vertical velocity at any point in the cyclone u = liquid radial velocity at any point in the cyclone r = radius from cyclone axis to any point ? = half angle of conical portion of the cyclone ?= fluid viscosity d = particle diameter s = liquid specific gravity p = particle specific gravity d50 = the particle diameter which distributes 5090 to overflow, 50% to underflow e = overflow diameter, in. b = feed diameter, in. G = gpm of feed slurry

Jan 1, 1963

By M. I. Copeland

The investigation of the zirconium-gadolinium equilibrium diagram was part of a program to investigate rare:earth alloys for use as nuclear reactor control materials. Investigation of the zirconium-gadolinium equilibrium diagram revealed a eutectic system with limited terminal solubilities and one peritectoid reaction. The eutectic composition occurs at about 82 percent gadolinium, and the eutectic isotherm, which occurs at 1,220 ±5° C., extends from about 12 to 99+ percent gadolinium. A peritectoid isotherm occurs at 890 ±5° C. and extends from about 2 to 99+ percent gadolinium. The solubility of gadolinium in beta zirconium decreases from about 12 percent at 1,220 ±5° C. to about 2 percent at 890 ±5° C. The solubility of gadolinium in alpha zirconium decreases from approximately 5 percent at 890 ±5° C. to between 2 and 3 percent at 600° C. Vary little solubility of zirconium in gadolinium was indicated. An allotropic transformation of gadolinium was observed at 1,260 ±5° C. A change of the gadolinium transformation temperature on alloying with zirconium was not observed.

Jan 1, 1961

By H. P. Greenwald

About mid-December 1936, the safety director of a large coal corporation visited the authors at the Bureau&apos;s Experimental coal mine to discuss a rock-dust barrier he had invented primarily for use in trackless entries of coal mines. The rock dust in this device was carried in its original paper containers and means were provided for ripping these open so that the dust might be scattered in the path of an explosion. The inventor termed the device a "bag barrier", and this term has been adopted in the present paper for convenience. At that time the device was in an early stage of development, and the inventor felt that the barrier should be tested to determine whether it had enough promise of being successful to justify further development. The matter was taken under consideration and finally three tests were made during the week of February 15, 1937. It was concluded that while the device did stop an explosion in two of the three tests, it was much loss effective than ordinary rock dusting, and that too few data were obtained to permit direct comparison with tests of other barriers. Apparently, the conditions under which the device could, be successful were somewhat limited, out the limits could not be defined without additional tests.

Jan 1, 1938

Reduce face methane concentrations and help prevent miners from working under unsupported roof while moving the curtain. Approach Use water sprays on the continuous mining machine to move and direct air to the face, and also provide appropriate installation guidelines for the most effective use of the system. I n laboratory tests and under actual mining conditions, the spray fan has proved an effective means of ventilation. Recent observations in the field, however, have shown that not enough technical information is widely available on proper installation of the spray fan. This Technology News is designed to rectify that situation by providing a concise guide for spray fan installation. How the System Works Good ventilation is essential for methane control. The spray fan system repositions regular water sprays to help the normal exhaust face ventilation do a more effective job. The various water sprays help in many ways: 1. Side sprays bring clean air along the side of the miner into the off-curtain corner.

Jan 1, 1983

By D. B. Swanepoel

Hulamin Rolled Products (Ltd) developed a high Mn and Si containing alloy, EN 4017 as a scrap consuming alloy from the waste generated in producing their range of clad products for brazing of inter alia automotive heat exchangers. The multifaceted composition of this alloy (Al -1.2 wt% Si -1.1 wt% Mn -0.2 wt% Mg-0.26 wt% Cu) suggested that it might display some degree of strengthening via precipitate formation of the Mg2 Si-types. The aging isotherms constructed showed that EN 4017 with 0.19% Mg reached a lower peak strength (YS~210 MPa and UTS~260 MPa)compared to the EN 4017 material with 0.43% Mg (YS~270 MPa and UTS~325 MPa). The higher Mg variant of EN 4017 was comparable with the age-hardenable reference alloy EN 6061. Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) studies proved that the microstructure of age hardened EN 4017 contained a combination of ß&apos;, ß" and U2 phase after being aged at 175ºC for 65 h. The general microstructure contained precipitate free zones as well as grain boundary Si films, although these did not lead to significant embrittlement. The role of Mn dispersoids in the fracture mechanism of 4017 is also discussed. The article will compare the behaviour of EN 4017 with that EN6061. Keywords: Age-hardening, dispersoids, magnesium silicide, precipitate free zones

Jan 1, 2009

By S. Z. Khan, Veerendra Singh, Y. Rama Murthy, S. Prasad, Sunil Kumar Tripathy, Gajanan Kapure

"In this study, a low-grade ferruginous low-grade chromite ore was subjected to reduction roasting by using conventional heating as well as microwave heating. Sukinda chromite ore deposit contains majorly iron-bearing minerals as gangue phase. The magnetic susceptibility of these minerals enhances effectively after reduction roasting. Alteration of crystalline structure and magnetic property of these metals enables separation of low-grade ore by using magnetic separation. Conventional roasting studies by varying the temperature, time of reduction and reductant dosage were changed for low-grade ferruginous chromite ore. Similarly, microwave power, retention/exposure time and reductant dosage varied for reduction roasting studies under microwave environment. It is found that low-grade ferruginous chromite ore can be upgraded by reduction roasting and 61.2% Cr2O3 was recovered with a chromium-to-iron ratio of 1.93 from feed chromium-to-iron ratio of 1. Microwave reduction roasting studies resulted in upgradation of chromium-to-iron ratio to 1.73 with a recovery of 21% Cr2O3.INTRODUCTION The chromite ore occurs as a spinel containing oxides of chromium, iron, magnesium and aluminium. Most of the Indian chromite deposits are of ferruginous (rich in iron content) which indicates the abundance of ferruginous gangue minerals along with chromite. The primary use of chromite ore is towards the production of ferrochrome alloys. Chromite ores with less than 40% Cr2O3 and the chromium-to-iron ratio (Cr-to-Fe ratio) <1.8 is considered to be unsuitable for the smelting process (Tripathy et al. 2012, Tripathy et al. 2012a). A considerable amount of low-grade chromite ore and overburden excavated during chromite mining is getting accumulated every year, causing a threat to the environment. Its disposal poses a significant challenge and, hence, the beneficiation of low-grade chromite ore and its utilisation has been attracting a lot of attention. Different physical method of beneficiation methods is generally employed for the improvement of the Cr-to-Fe ratio (Tripathy et al. 2012, Murthy et al. 2011, Tripathy et al. 2012a, Tripathy et al. 2013, Tripathy et al. 2016, Tripathy et al. 2017, Tripathy et al. 2017a). It is observed that the enrichment of the chromite ore is carried out by using gravity and in some places by magnetic separation. However, the enrichment of Cr-to-Fe ratio from low-grade ferruginous chromite ore is difficult by using the above-mentioned beneficiation methods due to the presence of near gravity and near-magnetic susceptibility minerals along with chromite. However, an alternative beneficiation method is needed to explore for the beneficiation of such mineral deposits. Reduction roasting followed by magnetic separation is an alternative option for the separation of these types of ores which is widely reported for the iron and manganese ore (Li, et al., 2010; Chun, et al., 2014, Rath et al., 2018). These processes are majorly focussed on differentiating the magnetic susceptibility between minerals and subsequent separation by using magnetic field. The main advantage of such method is dry process option along with the pre-processed product for the costly smelting process. Also, the roasting of minerals in a microwave environment is also an active research topic in the recent time. So, the amenability of the separation feature of the roasting process by using conventional heating as well as microwave heating can be can be studied for the low grade ferruginous chromite ores."

Jan 1, 2018

By R. W. Thompkins

"PREFACEPart 1 of this paper, published in the September issue, covered the occurrence of uranium, radiation from uranium ores, the uranium series, radioactive theory, radioactive equilibrium and application to the radon series, the working level, the theory of emanation and diffusion, transport by thermal diffusion of radon emanating from porous rocks, and definitions.This Part 2, which follows, deals with radiation theory applied to uranium ores, other radon migration factors, factors affecting the radon gas release rate, the measurement of radon gas emanation rates, the tunnel concept, variation of emanation rate with grade and estimating radioactivity from grade analysis.The series will conclude with Part 3, in the November issue, which will discuss the techniques for controlling radiation and provide some example calculations.10.0. Radiation Theory Applied to Uranium Ores10.0.1. The processes of diffusion transport of radon gas, through rock from the fundamental physics is a function o f the radon gas concentration in the interstitial pore spaces and the distance from the surface. Expressed by Fick&apos;s first law of diffusion, it is expressed: [ ]10.0.2. The maximum concentration is a function of the emanating power (ß), thus the above equation may be expressed: [ ]10.1. The Effect of Porosity10.1.1. If a constant emanating power is assumed (ß), a family of curves can be obtained for concentrations at varying distances and rock porosities. The curves as originally plotted assumed a constant emanating power of 5 x 10-4 pico curies/litre/sec and show the maximum expected concentrations in the pores in pico curies per litre. Because these concentrations are proportioned to the emanating power, this set of curves can be structured to show the fraction of maximum concentrations possible at various porosities of the rock.10.1.2. Notice that at 10, 20 and 30% porosities a 5-cm sample (hand-sized and drill-sized pieces) has no practical increase in pore concentration. Thus, by measuring the emanating power of hand-sized pieces of ore, the actual radon gas production into any pile of broken ore could be estimated readily."

Jan 1, 1982

By Everett Carpenter

THE average daily production of crude oil-in Kansas a1 the beginning of the year was about 71,000 1 bbl. and, at its close, 82,000 bbl.-an increase of 11,000 bbl. per day. The total production for the state during the year was about 28,250,000 bbl., or an average of practically 77,500 bbl. per day for the year. This increase in the production was the result of the discovery of several new pools of high-grade oil. COWLEY AND SUMNER COUNTIES One of the principal factors in bringing the production of the. state back to its former level was the newly discovered pools in western Cowley County. During December, 1923, the Waite Phillips Co. completed its Johnson No. 1 in Sec. 20, T. 33 S., R. 3 E., which opened up the Rainbow pool about 12 miles southwest of Winfield. In this pool, the production comes from the Burbank sand, locally called the "Rainbow," found at a depth of 3200 ft. The sand varies in thickness from 25 to 40 ft. in the seventeen wells completed during the year, and the initial productions ranged from 300 to 3000 bbl. per day of 40° Be. oil. The Rainbow pool is purely a wildcat discovery, for no. rocks suitable for the use of the geologist are present. To determine the geologic conditions, the larger companies core-drilled the Rainbow area immediately after the discovery. The Marland Refining, Co., drilling on the Graham farm in Sec. 9, T. 33, R. 3, failed to find the Burbank sand and continued to the Siliceous lime, often erroneously called the Wilcox, at 3505 ft., where a well with an initial production of 900 bbl. of 40 Be. oil was obtained. In the development following this discovery, 4 additional wells were completed, 3 of which encountered pay sand at 2500 ft., the initial productions each being about 200 barrels. Judging by the sands already proved and the area indicated as probably oil bearing by the development to date, these pools have a very promising outlook for the future. It is not unlikely that a field second only to El Dorado may have been opened.

Jan 3, 1925

By J. A. Cavallaro

To determine whether magnetite consumption could be reduced and salable coal production increased by using froth flotation units in series with magnetic separators, the Bureau of Mines conducted laboratory froth flotation tests on primary magnetic separator effluents obtained from three coal preparation plants. Tests were performed in a standard 500-gram-capacity laboratory batch flotation cell. Oleic acid and methylisobutyl carbinol were used as the collector and frother, respectively. Magnetite recovery was comparable to that expected from secondary magnetic separation, and salable float coal recoveries of 0,8 to 7.6 tons per hour were obtainable. The economics of the proposed technique appear to be sound.

Jan 1, 1966

By S. K. Kawatra, M. T. Rusesky, T. C. Eisele, D. X. Zhang

It has been observed in some mineral processing plants that grinding circuit efficiency varies seasonally, such as in some plants which are located in the northern US and Canada and undergo large seasonal temperature changes, with the grinding circuit efficiency different between summer and winter. This indicates that the temperature of grinding circuit slurry has a noticeable effect on grinding performance. The effect has rarely been studied. To this end, an investigation to examine the effect of changing temperature on efficiency and determination of the mechanism responsible has been carried out. Plant investigations and laboratory experiments have been conducted in order to study hydrocyclones. It was demonstrated that when the pressure drop is held constant, the d50(c) size decreased approximately linearly with increasing temperature, while the shape of the reduced efficiency curve remained nearly constant. This effect was determined to be due to changes in slurry viscosity with temperature.

Jan 1, 1990

By E. H. Henderson

Introduction Stamp-Milling and amalgamation is, perhaps, one of the oldest processes of recovering gold from its ores. Many papers, theses, and textbooks have been written on the subject of stamp-milling practice in general, but, to my knowledge, there have been no publications describing the modern stamp-mill as designed, developed, and operated in Nova Scotia. Although it may be said that the gravity stamp-mill is the most primitive, and perhaps the crudest, crushing machine in existence, it is at the same time the most satisfactory all-round milling and amalgamating device yet contrived. Originating in Saxony, and used in North America first in Virginia and Georgia, the stamp-mill, in a primitive form, later found its way to California and Colorado. Here, it speedily developed from an affair of wood shod with iron, and operated with the crudest gearing, to substantially its present form. Briefly, it consists (see Figure 1) essentially of a series of hammers (the stamps), which fall upon a mixture of ore and water contained in a cast-iron box (the mortar). The resulting crushed ore (the pulp) is splashed out through a screen on the front of the box. For some years after the discovery of gold in Nova Scotia, in 1861, the ? arrastra and Chilean mill were used to recover the gold from the rich ores. The stamp-mill followed, and various types were used, principally the California and Gilpin County types. Then, in 1895, Mr. M. R. O&apos;Shaughnessy, one of our foremost amalgamators, conceived the idea of a new type of stampmill, which has since become standard in Nova Scotia gold mines. This mill, unique in its design and operation, is specially adapted for the most efficient extraction and recovery of gold as it occurs in our Nova Scotian ores. It is commonly known as the Underwater Feed type, as opposed to the usual Overwater or Top Feed type, and it may be rightly termed The Nova Scotia Self-Classifying Stamp Amalgamation Mill. It is conceded by experienced mill-men that it is superior to any other type of mill for recovering the very coarse and granular gold typical of the ores of this Province. The particular installation and practice to be described in this paper is that of the Guysborough Mines, Limited, at Goldenville, Guysborough county. Emphasis will be laid on certain operating innovations of extreme simplicity and high efficiency.

Jan 1, 1935

By D. T. Peters, C. R. Cupp

Aging of commercial 18 pct Ni maraging steel and of related binary, ternary, and quaternary alloys has been studied by electrical resistivity, X-ray diffrac-tion, and hardness measurements. The aging process is in three stages: 1) recovery of martensite; 2) two precipitation reactions; 3) formation of nickel- rich austenite. The main objective of this work was to discover the nature of the Co-Mu interaction. Addition of cobalt to the Fe-18 pct Ni-5pct Mo alloy results in acceleration of the pvecipitation reaction by increasing the super-sat~lration 0f molybdenum. The cobalt-containing al- loys show no incubation period for the precipitation reaction, but the alloy without cobalt shows an initial slow reaction. These results are interpreted in terms of precipitation on dislocations. At low aging temperatures, the presence of cobalt leads to the appearance of a second type of precipitate which is a particularly effective hardener. Cobalt was found to retard the formation of austenite. Overaging is a combination of classical overaging and the formation of austenite in the structure. he- activation energy for the precipitation reaction determined from resistivity ,measurements is 42.8 kcal per mole and the growth of the precipitate is found to obey at law at high tenzperatures and a tU3 law at low temperatures. HE mechanism of strengthening of the 18 pct Ni maraging steels has been studied extensively since 1962.&apos;-? The strengthening is due to precipitation hardening of the martensitic matrix. The main precipitate is an inter metallic compound involving molybdenum, but there is disagreement about its identity.

Jan 1, 1967

By Ernest Lilley

THE tin deposits of Cornwall appear to have been worked for at least 3000 years. Prior to the sixteenth century, the tin came exclusively from alluvial deposits. At that time, shallow pits or mines were started in the hill sections. Mining of copper seems to have begun at the same time, but does not appear to have been especially important until about 1700. From that time until the close of the nineteenth century, copper was of major importance. Lead, and to a lesser extent, other metals, such as antimony, iron and manganese, were produced in commercial quantities during the same period. With the opening of the eighteenth century carne increasing difficulties with water because of the increasing depth of the mines. Among the efforts made to overcome this difficulty was the construction of the "Great County Adit," begun in 1748, taking 20 years to complete, and with its branches having a length of 20 miles. Adits proved capable of handling-only a few of the water problems, and led to rapid adoption of the steam pumping engine in the latter part of the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth. It was in this period that the Cornish pumping engine, still considered by Cornishmen to be the most satis-factory unit for handling large quantities of water, carne into existence. The development of a means of controlling the water made possible the opening up of a number of rich deposits where profitable work-ing was further assisted by numerous improvements in mining and milling machinery. During the middle of the past century, Cornwall, with an average yearly production of 10,000 tons of tin metal and an even slightly larger tonnage of copper, enjoyed a period of unprecedented prosperity. How-ever, the relatively high prices of both copper and tin served not only to encourage prospecting (and much speculation) in Cornwall, but also in other countries. The rapid development of copper mines in the United States, together with sudden impoverishment of the lodes with increasing depth in the greatest of the Cornish copper mines, brought the copper boom to an abrupt end, the production of copper at the close of the cen-tury being negligible in importance and being secured in large measure

Jan 1, 1932

Jan 1, 1978

By H. J. Liang

In this study, zeta potential and contact angle measurements of pyrite before and after interacting with Thiobacillus ferrooxidans are carried out to investigate the changes in its surface properties. The results show that, after pyrite interacting with Thiobacillus ferrooxidans and its metabolite, the surface electricity of pyrite changes obviously, resulting in a notable shifting of isoelectric point to lower pH value, but the contact angle varies little. Bacterial protein plays the most important role in the interaction. This work is helpful to disclose the mechanisms of Thiobacillus ferrooxidans de-pressing pyrite flotability.

Jan 1, 2014

By H A. Myburgh

The beneficiation of heavy metal oxides, such as iron ore, is usually performed with heavy medium separation in cyclones, static baths and lately with Larcodems. Atomized ferrosilicon is most suitable as a heavy medium at densities above 3600 kg/m3 whereas a mixture of milled and atomized ferrosilicon is suitable at densities below 3600 kg/m3. When operating a beneficiation plant at densities higher than 3600 kg/m3 the quality of the ferrosilicon particles is an important factor that influences the control of the beneficiation process. Therefore, it is important to know how the rheology would be affected by the ferrosilicon quality as it also influences the control of the process at these elevated densities. Background The Kumba Resources Sishen Iron Ore Mine in South Africa produces 26.5 Mt iron ore per annum from its beneficiation plant. The ore body consists mainly of laminated and massive type hematite ore that is crushed down to ?90mm before being beneficiated by means of a combination of Wemco drums, Larcodem and dense medium cyclone separators. The need for higher densities When the percentage of high-density gangue2 is higher than normal in the run-of-mine (ROM), a higher separation density is necessary to produce a product to specification. Certain ore types of this quality in the Sishen reserves require a separating density higher than 4000 kg/m3, whereas densities would normally average 3600 kg/m3 when beneficiating ores of normal high-density gangue content. Sink and float tests conducted on the ROM material at Sishen revealed some interesting characteristics. In the waste fraction, (density < 3600 kg/m3) it was found that the %Fe was <21% (Fig. 1). Similarly, for the product fraction (density >3000 kg/m3), the percentage Fe varied between 35% and 67.2%. The bulk of the material (88%) actually had a density greater than 4000 kg/m3 and a Fe content that varied between 63% and 67.2%. At a density interval of 3600 to 4000 kg/m3, the Fe content varied from 37% to 60% with an average of 45%.

Jan 1, 2006