MINE 292

Laboratory Groups

A - Weeks 2, 5, 8, 10 B - Weeks 3, 7, 9, 11
Group A1 Group B1
Agopian, Hagop Jack Arnaly, Joshua James
Ding, Fang Eakin, Benjamin James(Ben)
Hsieh, Preston Jun, Sang Yup
Leung, Andrea Leung, Jonathan (Jonny)
Quan, Jia Rahardjo, Anthony Hanson
Tao, Hai Yuan Harry(Harry Tran, Tony
Group A2 Group B2
Boparai, Rishamdeep Bosman, Wayde Conrad
Frey, Alex Geddes, Stephen
Kao, Shih Fan Jason(Jason) Konkin, Stephen
Liu, Chen Lu, Wan Fang (Wendy)
Rattanpal, Ramneek Singh(Ramn Roy, Justin
Valino, Mary Joyce Bote Wang, Ke (John)
Group A3 Group B3
Chan, Jessie Wing Hung(Jessie Chau, Jennifer
Graham, Matthew Austin Grewal, Harpreet
Li, Canran Lin, David
Martinez, Jose McKenzie, Gregory George
Rush, Kevin Salehipour, Rouzbeh
Wang, Xinyi (Jessica) Weatherwax, Erin
Group A4 Group B4
Chu, Haley Collins, Benjamin Cecil(Ben)
Gross, Adam Hamidi Zadeh, Ramin (Ramin)
Learey, Parker Evan Lee, Wayne Yu-Wei(Wayne)
Mullen, Daniel Edward James(D Nguyen, Travis
Sekhon, Chan Shugg, Kelsey
Wong, Brad

Lab 1 Lab 2 Lab 3 Lab 4

Week 2 A1 A2 A3 A4
Week 3 B1 B2 B3 B4
Week 5 A2 A3 A4 A1
Week 7 B2 B3 B4 B1
Week 8 A3 A4 A1 A2
Week 9 B3 B4 B1 B2
Week 10 A4 A1 A2 A3
Week 11 B4 B1 B2 B3

Week 8 Mid-Term at 1:00pm on Tuesday

 Laboratory Procedure – MINE 292
Introduction to Mineral Processing

LAB 1. Grinding and Particle Size

A 1 kg sample of an ore are available for grinding testwork. The sample is to be ground for a
particular grind time in a rod mill with a 20 kg rod charge at 65 %solids. Grind times are 5,
10, and 15 minutes duration as advised by the lab instructor.
After grinding each sample, transfer it into a bucket and then filter the pulp using the
pressure filter.
Dry the sample in the drying oven for 1 hour. (Instead of drying the samples, the lab
instructor may ask you to perform a wet screen of the products).
When dry, place 75 grams of the sample onto a screen deck and run the deck on the Ro-Tap
machine for 20 minutes duration. The screen deck will be made up of the following screen
sizes:
28 mesh screen
35 mesh screen
65 mesh screen
150 mesh screen
200 mesh screen
270 mesh screen

Weigh each size fraction and record the weight in a table.

Expand the table in a spreadsheet to report the weight% in each fraction and the cumulative
weight% passing and retained on each size.
Graph the data and establish the d80 particle size as well as the d50 size.
Assuming the feed size d80 is 1,240 microns, what reduction ratio was achieved in this
grinding test?
 Laboratory Procedure – MINE 292
Introduction to Mineral Processing

LAB 2 – Part A. Physical Separation (shaking table)

A 1-kg sample of an ore containing pyrite and quartz is available for separation using a
shaking table.
Mix the ore with water to achieve a pulp density of 30%solids.
Turn on the shaking table and adjust the water flow so a thin film of water flows across the
table.
Adjust the table to an angle of about 0.25 degrees with an eccentric throw of about 2-3 cm.
Slowly feed the slurry into the feed box so the ore particles flow out into the table and begin
to flow both across the table and along the riffles.
Adjust the concentrate splitter to cut a high-grade concentrate and adjust the tailings splitter
to achieve a low-grade tailing product.
Continue the test until all the feed material has left the table.
Collect the three products – concentrate, middlings, and tailings.
Filter these products in a pressure filter press and examine all products under a microscope.
Weigh the three products and calculate the solids weight assuming a 10% weight of water in
each product.
Estimate the quantity of pyrite by volume in each sample. Convert the %volume to a
%weight and prepare a mass balance of the test reporting the weight yield and the
%recovery of pyrite and %recovery of quartz.
Questions:
1. Did you observe a particle size effect on the separation of pyrite and quartz on the
shaking table? If so, describe the effect and provide an explanation of how the riffles act to
segregate fine and coarse particle?
2. Based on the observed productivity, what general conclusion can you make about
the use of shaking tables for conducting gravity-separation of an ore with respect to the size
of plant? Assuming each commercial table is 10X the size of the laboratory model, and that
each table can process about 1.5 tph of ore, layout a plant to process 1,000 tpd of an ore.
Assume cleaning tables are unnecessary.
 Laboratory Procedure – MINE 292
Introduction to Mineral Processing

LAB 2 – part B. Physical Separation (magnetic)

A 1-kg sample of a hematite-quartz ore is available for processing by high-intensity magnetic

separation.
The CARPCO high-intensity magnetic separator will be used.
Place a sample into the feed bin and turn on the rotor. Adjust the speed to about 40 rpm.
Adjust the magnetic field strength to about 9,000 Tesla.
Open the feed port and allow material to flow across the drum and through the magnetic field
collecting three products – concentrate, middlings, and tailings.
Weight all products and estimate the hematite content in each product.
Redo several tests under different conditions and report the results in metallurgical balance
tables that give %Yield of total weight and %Recovery of iron.
 Laboratory Procedure – MINE 292
Introduction to Mineral Processing

LAB 2. – Part C. Physical Separation (electrostatic)

A 1-kg sample of a hematite-quartz ore is available for processing by electrostatic separation.

The CARPCO high-intensity electrostatic separator will be used.
Place a sample into the feed bin and turn on the rotor. Adjust the speed to about 50 rpm.
Adjust the electric field strength to about 32,000 KV.
Open the feed port and allow material to flow across the drum and through the electric field
collecting three products – concentrate, middlings, and tailings.
Weight all products and estimate the hematite content in each product.
Redo several tests under different conditions and report the results in metallurgical balance
tables that give %Yield of total weight and %Recovery of iron.
Compare the results obtained in this experiment with those obtained in the magnetic
separation testwork.
 Laboratory Procedure – MINE 292
Introduction to Mineral Processing

LAB 3. Flotation

Flotation is the most widely used method to separate ores because of its high degree of
selectivity and its ability to deal with fine ores.

A 1-kg sample of a copper ore is available for flotation and has been ground to a suitable
degree of fineness. Place the ore into a 2-L flotation cell and add water sufficient to yield a
density of 25%solids. Adjust the level of the pulp to about 3 cm below the lip.
Turn on the impeller to about 1800 rpm. Keep the air valve closed.
Add 50 g/t of Potassium Amyl Xanthate to the slurry and condition the pulp for 5 minutes.
Turn on the air and observe the froth. Record your observations.
Turn off the air and add 4 drops of Pine Oil into the cell. Condition the pulp for 1 minute and
then turn on the air. Observe the froth once more and record any differences in the froth
characteristics.
Pull off the froth using a paddle - maintain a consistent stroke and add water using a wash
bottle to maintain the forth height.
Change the pans at the following time intervals – 0.5, 1.0, 1.0, 3.0 minutes.
If the froth still appears to contain significant copper mineralization, then add an additional 2
minutes of flotation.
If the froth dies out before the end of the test, add an additional 2 drops of Pine Oil.
Filter the tailings in a Pressure filter press.
Weight all samples after drying and bag the samples for assay.
After receiving thee assays, use the weights to perform a metallurgical balance to report a
grade/recovery curve.
Apply the following smelter contract and calculate the optimum point on the grade/recovery
curve:
Pay $3.00 per pound of contained copper after deducting 1% from the dry assay.
Charge $200 per tonne for smelting and transport.
Deduct $0.25 per pound of smelter recovered copper for refining and transport.
 Laboratory Procedure – MINE 292
Introduction to Mineral Processing
LAB 4. Thickening Tests

Prepare four 1-L graduated cylinders for testwork. Place 50 g of fine silica onto each cylinder
and fill to the 1-L mark.
Agitate and well-mix the contents in each cylinder. Label the cylinders from 1 to 4.

Place the following amount of flocculant into each cylinder and mix again for 5 minutes:

Cylinder 1 0.005%
Cylinder 2 0.05%
Cylinder 3 0.10%
Cylinder 4 0.20 %

Start the stop watch when the agitation is complete and record the mud level in each cylinder
at the following time intervals: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 40, 60, minutes and after 24
hours.
Plot a graph of the results allowing you to obtain the settling rate. Plot the settling rate as a
function of flocculant addition.

Use the results to design a thickener to treat 75,000 tonnes of dry solids per day at a feed
density of 45%solids and an underflow density of 65%solids which will also produce clear
water in the overflow. Assume the S.G. of the solids is 2.73.