MINERAL PROCESSING
OVERVIEW
3rd April 2018
CONTENT
1. The beginning – what’s in the rock?
2. Exploration
3. Definitions – important to comminution
4. Rock to Metal - Overview
5. Ore handling
6. Objectives of comminution
7. Mineralogy
8. Breakage & Liberation
9. Economic considerations
10. Environmental & Safety considerations
1
THE BEGINNING – WHAT’S IN THE ROCK???
Or just
Or just
a good
a good
accident
accident
hashas
led led to
Or just a good accident has led
to some
somestunning
stunningdiscovery
discovery
to some stunning discovery
After a programme of
systematic exploration,
something has been followed
EXPLORATION
What is really there?
Establish extent of mineralisation by carrying out “bore hole” drilling
Withdraw core samples and analyse (worth involving Mineral processor at this
stage)
Interpret the data Bore hole drilling to trace the ore body
Core Samples
Drilling Equipment
2
WHAT ARE THE GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS LIKE?
What kind of deposit; uniform or variable vein deposit?
What is the prevailing geological structure?? Fault problems ?
Folding problems ?
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Ground stability
Water aquifers
EXPLORATION RESULTS
Must be compiled by a reliable competent person or team
Refer to SAMREC reporting standards
http://www.saimm.co.za/
3
IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
MINERAL- Is a naturally occurring inorganic solid substance possessing definite chemical
composition and atomic structure.
Coal, chalk, clay do not fall within the definition of minerals but are usually included in
national figures of mineral production
ORE – Is a mineral that can be exploited economically
ROM / RUN OFF MINE ORE – this is the ore as mined (separated from waste rock)
CONCENTRATE- product of a beneficiation/ore dressing process carrying the valuable
mineral
TAILINGS- waste or discard product from a beneficiation/ore dressing process
MIDDLINGS- mixture of above two
GANGUE- unwanted mineral(s) in association with values (or valuable mineral)
GRADE- the concentration of a valuable component is called the grade of the ore e.g.
copper ore may grade between 0.5-3.0%
MINE- Is the site where the ore mass is removed from the earth
MILL/CONCENTRATOR – is the plant where mineral processing is carried out, this plant is
usually located at the mine site.
ROCK-TO-METAL
Ore or
Run of Mine (ROM)
Rock Mining
Liberation
Comminution
Concentrate
Separation Metal
Extraction
4
MINING
Ore body Ore or Run of Mine
Mining ROM
Deliver consistent
tonnage
Acceptable grade (within
cut-off grade)
Waste rock Acceptable Particle size
(Blasting control)
Avoid contaminants
COMMINUTION
Ore or
Run of Mine Comminution
(ROM) Smaller
(Crushing & liberated
Grinding) particles
Ore is moved from ROM
stockpiles – using “yellow
machines” i.e. FEL and Crushed Ore is moved by
Excavators loading Dump Conveyors and Wet milled ore is
Trucks or by Conveyor Belts moved by transfer equipment like
pumps & pipes via tanks/sumps
5
ORE HANDLING
Dry Ore Handling
Silos
Conveyor
belts
Stock piles
Feed bin
Vibro-feeders
Wet Ore Handling
Slurrifying
tanks
Pumps
Pipes
SEPARATION
Crushed
and/or milled Separation
ore Concentrate
Tailings
• Separation Techniques include: Flotation, Gravity
concentration, DMS, Magnetic & Electrostatic separation,
sorting e.t.c
6
EXTRACTION
Concentrate Extraction
Metal
Tailings & other
waste streams
• Extraction Techniques include: Pyrometallurgy and
hydrometallurgy
ROCK TO METAL
Ore Receipt bins
Chute
Conveyor belt
+ Size
Screen
Hydrocyclone
- Size Crushing
Physical
Separation Grinding
process mill
To the Markets
Hydrometallurgical
Treatment Electro-
Refinining
Pyrometallurgical & casting
Tailings Treatment
disposal
7
OBJECTIVES OF COMMINUTION
(CRUSHING AND MILLING)
Comminution – is the preparation of ores for mineral
separation by reducing particle size to free valuable
minerals from gangue
Virtually all ores need to be crushed and/or milled
to:
Create smaller particle size
Release the values locked up in the ore
Separate dissimilar particles from each other
Makes material easier to handle and facilitates the
separation of the product from associated waste
material
Achieve a more uniform sorting
Reduces particle size thereby increasing the surface area
available for chemical reactions
Saves in freight costs – required to transport the ore to
the smelter by using cheap low energy methods to
separate the values from gangue
“reason concentrators are located close to mines”
Reduces total smelting or refining cost – cost of smelting
and leaching waste material.
8
EFFICIENCIES OF COMMINUTION
Comminution is one of the most energy intensive
operations in mineral beneficiation while it is the most
energy inefficient
Energy is mainly lost as;
Sound energy – noisy plants
Heat energy
Surface energy – charging of particles
Kinetic energy
Only 20-30 % of the energy input goes towards breaking
down the ore !!!!!
COMMINUTION STAGES AS A
FUNCTION OF PARTICLE SIZE
9
MINERALOGY
Gangue
Valuable
Mineral
Minerals must first be freed or liberated
19
MINERALOGICAL ANAYSIS
X-Ray Diffraction Spectroscopy (XRD) – identifies main
minerals and their approximate abundance.
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) – gives
microphotographs of thin polished sections of the ore and
identifies minerals, their texture, grain sizes, boundaries.
Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission
Spectroscopy (ICP-AES) – gives the chemical analysis of
a digested ore sample
X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) - can typically analyse
elements from sodium to uranium, in concentrations
ranging from parts per million to high percentages, in
solids, liquids, and powders.
10
PARTICLES AND GRAINS
Mineral Particle Grains
Microscopic image of the thin section of rock
THE NATURE OF
ORES
= 0.1 mm 1 mm =
11
MINERAL TEXTURES
Intergrown texture
BREAKAGE & LIBERATION
1. Fracture by Compression: a particle is “caught”
between two crushing surfaces that apply compressive
forces that result in fracture.
2. Fracture by Impact: a particle and a rigid surface/ or
another particle undergo impact. If energy transferred is
greater than that required for fracture the particle shatters.
3. Abrasion/Attrition: a particle “rubs” against another/or
against a breakage surface. The shear stress applied
causes particle to “wear” out.
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PROGENY OF DIFFERENT FRACTURE
MECHANISMS
MINERAL LIBERATION – BASIC
PRINCIPLES
1) Objective: To obtain a physical disengagement of mineral from gangue.
2) Primary means: Comminution – breaking particles into smaller particles.
3) Degree of liberation: Fraction of the mineral phase that is present as pure mineral
particles (liberated particles)
4) ‘Locked particles’: These are multi-phase particles that occur when mineral liberation is
incomplete.
5) Effect of Texture: The degree of liberation is determined by ore texture and the size
distribution of particles.
6) Mineralogy of Gangue: affects the degree of liberation
13
A PARTICLE BEFORE GRINDING
- UNLIBERATED OR LOCKED
breakage planes
PARTICLE IS BROKEN ALONG PLANES
28
14
SOME LIBERATED (FREE) PARTICLES PRODUCED
PARTICLES TYPES
1) liberated mineral particles
2) locked
particles
3) liberated gangue particles
15
OBSERVATION
Liberation increases as the particle size is
reduced relative to the grain size
Grain size is the size of
grain of the valuable
mineral
Example:
The grain size of white mineral
is 60 micron
PARTICLE SHAPE
It is easy to define regular geometrical shapes such as sphere, cube,
pyramid etc. but in reality most shape that result from ore breakage are
irregular
Acicular – needle like
Slab of flaky – plate like i.e. when the thickness is small
compared to other two dimensions
Granular – more or less equidimensional though irregular
Irregular - lacking any symmetry
Fibrous - regular or irregularly threadlike
Angular – sharp aged
Dendritic – branch like
Crystalline – with well define geometrical shape
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FACTORS AFFECTING LIBERATION
Mineral Grain Size
Particle Size
Breakage properties of the Ore
Texture of the Ore
Mineralogical Analysis
MODELLING MINERAL
LIBERATION
‘Locked’
Particle
Particle
Size
{ Broken into smaller
particles to increase
degree of liberation
We have models to
describe the size
distribution of the But what about the grades of
‘progeny’ particles. the progeny particles??
Particle Grade
17
MODELLING MINERAL
LIBERATION
‘Parent’
Particle
Particle
Size
.
.
. .
Particle Grade
LIBERATION EFFECT OF
PARTICLE BREAKAGE
Most
Particles in
Liberated Parent Ore Liberated
Gangue Mineral
As particles
are broken …
Particle Size
→
Hardly any
Particles
Accumulation here Accumulation
Particle Grade →
18
ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS
Need for awareness of the problem in terms of time
and space
Time issues – How much is there? What is the life time of the mine at
a profitable production rate? What the PBP, ROCE e.t.c
Geographical issues - Where is resource located? How far
is it from local services like roads, rail, power lines,
water? how far are the markets?- This can be an
impediment in developing countris , resources?)
Financial issues - Source of capital, profitability, PBP, ROCE ?
Political and social issues - Govt policy, taxes, export controls, stability etc.
Human resource - Are all levels of expertise going to
be available?
Environment – pollution control can be costly
particularly in developed countries
ENVIRONMENTAL & SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
Environmental Impact Assessments
Licensing – water use licence, waste management licences
Tailings disposal – need for TSF’s, slimes dams
Mine rehabilitation – resources are set a side for mine
and dumb rehabilitation
SHE and OHS - policies compliant with government
legislation
19
OHS ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH
CRUSHING AND MILLING
Health and safety hazards:
risk of injuries from crushing equipment
noise (may exceed the 85dBA limit stipulated in the Mine Health and Safety Act and
therefore require hearing protection)
Dust generation
occupational health and safety risk to workforce (may require respiratory and eye
protection to work in excessively dusty areas)
both dust and noise are a ‘nuisance factor’ for neighbouring populations
Possible mitigation measures
Dust suppression from crushers:
crushers are generally not enclosed so it is difficult to contain dust that may be generated
selecting crusher orientation so that advantage is taken of the prevailing wind direction
may help to blow dust away
dust suppression measures (eg. water spraying) can help but can also generate their own
problems if poorly controlled
Minimising the ‘nuisance factor’ to neighbouring communities
if possible, site such crushing infrastructure as far as possible from existing communities
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