Geometallurgical characterisation of Merensky Reef and UG2 at the Marikana Mine, Bushveld Complex, South Africa

Dzvinamurungu, Thomas; Viljoen, K.S.; Knoper, Michael; Mulaba‐Bafubiandi, Antoine F.

doi:10.1016/j.mineng.2013.04.010

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The MCHR ore required the lowest milling times to achieve the required target grinds. The milling times for the PCMZ and MCHR ore types at Nkomati are in broad agreement with those of the Merensky Reef and UG2 [53,58] and confirm the findings of Dzvinamurungu et al [53], that the milling times are primarily controlled by the chromite abundance.…”

Section: Milling Performances Of the Three Nkomati Mine Oressupporting

confidence: 88%

“…This included crushing the samples to 100% passing 2 mm (unprocessed ore) and splitting into 1 kg aliquots. Milling curves were constructed [53]. Three target grind sizes were selected for this study.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The reagent suite and dosages used for the benchtop flotation test work for the recovery of the sulphides can be found in the Table 2. The rod mill configuration and milling procedure can be found in Dzvinamurungu et al [53] and references within.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A Process Mineralogical Evaluation of Chromite at the Nkomati Nickel Mine, Uitkomst Complex, South Africa

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A process mineralogical study based on three texturally and mineralogically different chromite-bearing ore types at the Nkomati nickel mine was undertaken, with focus on chromite. Chromite is a by-product of the Ni-Cu-Co-PGE ore at Nkomati Nickel mine. These being the PCMZ_MG (medium-grade Ni-Cu sulphide silicate ore with disseminated chromite), PCMZ_HG (high-grade Ni-Cu sulphide silicate ore containing disseminated chromite) and MCHR (massive chromite unit) ore types. These were processed using benchtop flotation followed by gravity concentration using a shaking table at different grind sizes. Quantitative mineralogical data was obtained using a 600F Mineral Liberation Analyser for the unprocessed and processed ores at three selected target grinds. The Mineral Liberation Analyser data indicated that increased milling does not relate to increased chromite grades and recoveries, particularly for the disseminated PCMZ type ores based on laboratory-scale gravity concentration. The recovery is controlled largely by the chromite chemistry. The results also showed that the MCHR samples that underwent a pre-flotation stage before gravity separation had better Cr2O3 grades (45% to 47%) and recoveries (52% to 61%) than MCHR ore that did not undergo a pre-flotation stage, which recorded grades ranging from 44% to 46% and recoveries ranging from 43% to 60%. This holds promise for the blending of MCHR ores with the PCMZ ores. The PCMZ ores also displayed better Cr2O3 grades and recoveries at coarser grinds. The optimal target grind to process all three ore types is a P80 of 75 μm, which is the current grind size employed at Nkomati Nickel mine. Due to the low nickel price and grade the Nkomati Nickel mine is currently under care and maintenance.

show abstract

Section: Milling Performances Of the Three Nkomati Mine Oressupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Process Mineralogical Evaluation of Chromite at the Nkomati Nickel Mine, Uitkomst Complex, South Africa

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The abundance of chromite and iron conformed to the typical mineralogy of UG2 ore XRF results. 27 Very low concentrations of Cu (0.034%), V (0.09%), Mn (0.19%), Ni (0.2%), K (0.29%), Na (0.36), P (0.013), and Zn (0.036%) were present in the sample. The PGM's could not be shown as they were in undetectable quantities.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 89%

Effect of grinding media shape on the particle size distribution of UG2 ore using the response surface methodology central composite design

Matsanga,

Nheta,

Chimwani

2024

Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy: Transactions of t

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this study, the effects of truncated ellipsoids and cubes on the particle size distribution of a UG2 ore were compared to the spheres using the response surface methodology for experimental design, modeling, and optimization. The response surface methodology demonstrated that it can be useful in optimizing grinding operations. It provides lenses to see and analyze the behavior of the ball filling, interstitial filling, and % solids parameters which are complex and interactive, and their effects on the production of the desired product (−75 µm) for different grinding media. Spherical grinding media outperformed truncated ellipsoids and cubes, producing the highest amount of the desired size class (82.58%), followed by 80.41% for truncated ellipsoids and 77.07% for cubes. Spheres also consumed the least power followed by cubes and lastly truncated ellipsoids. The differences in optimal grinding conditions were attributed to different contact mechanisms, surface area, and load behavior of the grinding media.

show abstract

“…Several studies have been conducted demonstrating the impact of ore characteristics on the processing of base metal and precious metal ore (e.g. Petruk and Hughson 1977;Bojcevski 2004;Lastra 2007;Cropp, Goodall and Bradshaw 2013;Dzvinamurungu, Viljoen, Knoper and Mulaba-Bafubiandi 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Particle-based Sb distribution model for Cu–Pb flotation as part of geometallurgical modelling at the polymetallic Rockliden deposit, north-central Sweden

Minz

Bolin

Lamberg

et al. 2016

Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The polymetallic Cu-Zn ore of the Rockliden massive sulphide deposit in the Skellefte District in north-central Sweden contains a number of deleterious elements in relevant concentrations. Of particular concern is the amount of antimony (Sb) reporting to the Cu-Pb concentrate. The aim of this study was to compare different model options to simulate the distribution of Sb minerals in a laboratory flotation test based on different degrees of details in the mineralogical information of the flotation feed. Experimental data obtained from four composites were used for the modelling and simulation. The following different simulation levels were run (sorted from least to highest level of detail of their mineralogical information): chemical assays, unsized bulk mineralogy, sized bulk mineralogy and particle information. It was shown that recoveries simulated based on bulk mineralogy are mostly within the error margin acceptable in the exploration stage of the Rockliden deposit. Unexpected high deviation in the simulation using particle information from the original recovery has been partly attributed to the fact that recovery of non-liberated particles cannot be modelled appropriately in the present version of the modelling and simulation software. It is expected that the implementation of full particle information in simulation will improve the Sb distribution model for the mineralogically complex Rockliden deposit.

show abstract

Geometallurgical characterisation of Merensky Reef and UG2 at the Marikana Mine, Bushveld Complex, South Africa

Cited by 10 publications

References 36 publications

A Process Mineralogical Evaluation of Chromite at the Nkomati Nickel Mine, Uitkomst Complex, South Africa

A Process Mineralogical Evaluation of Chromite at the Nkomati Nickel Mine, Uitkomst Complex, South Africa

Effect of grinding media shape on the particle size distribution of UG2 ore using the response surface methodology central composite design

Particle-based Sb distribution model for Cu–Pb flotation as part of geometallurgical modelling at the polymetallic Rockliden deposit, north-central Sweden

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About