Challenges and opportunities in the recovery/rejection of trace elements in copper flotation-a review

Agorhom, Eric A.; Lem, Jim Pae; Skinner, William; Zanin, Massimiliano

doi:10.1016/j.mineng.2015.04.008

Cited by 28 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 75 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The hardness of the gangue phases, for example, dictates crushing of the ore, sheet silicates affect the flotation, and some trace metals are deleterious to primary metals (main commodity). The importance of understanding the mineralogy of trace minerals and gangue minerals especially in Cu-Au ores is also highlighted by Agorhom et al [24] in their review on trace element recovery in copper flotation. Hence, recognizing these potential problems should be of interest in a mining venture.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated Quantitative Mineralogy Optimized for Simultaneous Detection of (Precious/Critical) Rare Metals and Base Metals in A Production-Focused Environment

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Automated Scanning Electron Microscopy (ASEM) systems are applied in the mining industry to quantify the mineralogy of the ore feed and products. With society pushing towards sustainable mining, this quantification should be comprehensive and include trace minerals since they are often either deleterious or potential by-products. Systems like QEMSCAN® offer a mode for trace mineral analysis (TMS mode); However, it is unsuitable when all phases require analysis. Here, we investigate the potential of detecting micron-sized trace minerals in fieldscan mode using the QEMSCAN® system with analytical settings in line with the mining industry. For quality comparison, analysis was performed at a mining company and a research institution. This novel approach was done in full collaboration with both parties. Results show that the resolution of trace minerals at or below the scan resolution is difficult and not always reliable due to mixed X-ray signals. However, by modification of the species identification protocol (SIP), quantification is achievable, although verification by SEM-EDS is recommended. As an add-on to routine quantitative analysis focused on major ore minerals, this method can produce quantitative data and information on mineral association for trace minerals of precious and critical metals which may be potential by-products in a mining operation.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Automated Quantitative Mineralogy Optimized for Simultaneous Detection of (Precious/Critical) Rare Metals and Base Metals in A Production-Focused Environment

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Phosphate ions are irreversibly adsorbed onto this, and even minimal amounts of adsorbed phosphate have been found to prevent further oxidation of the pyrite [16]. From a metallurgical perspective, this is interesting: the high levels of Fe (up to 6%), if wholly present as sulphides, could create problems in recovering Cu, as iron sulphides normally float with Cu, making Cu and Fe separation difficult and consequently rendering liberation an (2020) 2:1707 | https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-020-03447-x issue [1]. If Fe sulphides are coated with hydroxides and phosphate, this problem would be less severe.…”

Section: Element Concentrations and Correlationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retreatability analysis of the Musina copper mine tailings in South Africa: an exploratory study

Singo

Kramers

2020

SN Appl. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In recent times, the potential beneficial uses of abandoned mine sites have been recognised and acted upon through the retreatment of tailings in order to win minerals of interest still available in economically viable concentrations. The most notable benefit (although not usually factored in financially) is that, once the tailings have been removed, the land has a greater potential to be developed further. The main aim of this study was to investigate the contents of copper and potentially harmful elements in the tailings of the Musina mine, an abandoned Cu mine in the northern Limpopo Province, in order to assess environmental hazards and to provide a first estimate of the feasibility of future economic rehabilitation. The concept of reclaiming was here seen in a broad way and ranged from the reworking of tailings or other residues to residential and/or recreational use. To quantify the potential economic importance and impacts of the metal content of the tailings, geochemical analysis of samples from auger holes and resource modelling were employed. Neutral to slightly basic pH values and very low concentrations of arsenic and lead showed that acid drainage and toxic groundwater contamination (apart from Cu itself) would not be a concern. Three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional (2D) models were applied to estimate the resource potential of the tailings dump. The models revealed that residual Cu in the Musina mine tailings is currently at 8555 tonnes. Accordingly, going forward, we recommend a formalised geometallurgical study to assess the economic feasibility of extracting Cu, with a view to reworking the copper tailings dump. It is very important that this tailings dump be mined in future, in order to extract all Cu and ensure that the sterilised land (up to 95 ha) can be used for other purposes.

show abstract

“…Within copper extractive processes, flotation is the most widely used worldwide, producing 80 % of the production of this commodity [3][4][5][6][7]. Flotation processes are a recurring alternative in the treatment of copper sulfide minerals, since the selective separation of minerals is achieved, based on their hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties [8][9][10]. The flotation process consists of a structure in which series-ordered flotation banks are pre-established [11,12], which cover the treatment of a large volume of material, which in turn produces associated costs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global sensitivity analyses of a neural networks model for a flotation circuit

Saldaña

Ayala

Torres

et al. 2020

Hem Ind

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Modeling of flotation processes is complex due to the large number of variables involved and the lack of knowledge on the impact of operational parameters on the response(s), and given this problem, machine learning algorithms emerge as an alternative interesting when modeling dynamic processes. In this work, different artificial neural network (ANN) architectures for modeling the mineral concentrate in a rougher-cleaner-scavenger (RCS) circuit based on the main process variables are generated (variables as the recovery of the rougher, cleaner and scavenger cells, along with disaggregated variables). Analysis of the global sensitivity was performed to study the importance of the individual and joint performances of the stages of the flotation circuit, reflected by sensitivity indicators that allow to infer the impact that the stages and operational parameters produce on the dependent variables (mineral concentrate in rougher, cleaner and scavenger cells, in addition to the global concentration in the RCS circuit). It should be noted that the ANN is a useful tool for modeling dynamic systems such as flotation, while sensitivity analysis shows that the operation of the three threads turns out to be crucial for the subsequent evaluation of the circuit, while the Unbundled variables that most interact with the overall recovery are gas flow rate, bubble and particle diameters, bubble velocity, particle density, and surface tension.

show abstract

Challenges and opportunities in the recovery/rejection of trace elements in copper flotation-a review

Cited by 28 publications

References 75 publications

Automated Quantitative Mineralogy Optimized for Simultaneous Detection of (Precious/Critical) Rare Metals and Base Metals in A Production-Focused Environment

Automated Quantitative Mineralogy Optimized for Simultaneous Detection of (Precious/Critical) Rare Metals and Base Metals in A Production-Focused Environment

Retreatability analysis of the Musina copper mine tailings in South Africa: an exploratory study

Global sensitivity analyses of a neural networks model for a flotation circuit

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About