Is flotation the unavoidable way for beneficiating metal sulphide ores?

Cuyper, Jacques De; Lucion, Ch.

doi:10.1007/978-94-009-0809-3_12

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…There are many publications addressing the testing programs for sensor-based, mechanised particle sorters (Böhme 1983;Lyaudet & Roche 1996;von Ketelhodt 2009) and dense-medium separation (Gül & Önal 2000;Napier-Munn & Wills 2011). However, in the limited cases where these techniques were adopted and utilised by an operation (Crundwell et al 2011;De Cuyper & Lucion 1990;Munro et al 1982;Vatcha, Cochrane & Rousell 2000), they were incorporated exclusively within the processing circuits of the concentrator to treat processing streams from all run-of-mine ore.…”

Section: Selective Blasting and Screeningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of energy-efficiency, emission pricing and pre-concentration for the optimised development of a Au-Cu deposit

Scott¹

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In 2009-10, fifty percent more energy was required by the Australian mining industry to generate a unit of output compared with just ten years earlier. The escalating energy intensity being experienced by the mining industry has been largely attributed to a significant deterioration in the quality of the resources available for production. However, the Australian mining industry also remains heavily reliant on energy sourced from the combustion of fossil fuels and the recent introduction of emission pricing in Australia has placed greater importance on improvements to the energy-efficiency of operations.The thesis demonstrates that improvements in the energy-efficiency of current mining and mineral processing equipment have the potential to reduce the energy and emission intensities of production and improve the value of operations. In contrast, the introduction of emission pricing in Australia is shown to significantly reduce the value of the operation and the conversion of resources to reserves with negligible reductions in energy and emission intensities of production. The energy reductions required to offset the impact of emission pricing at an operation exceeded the capabilities of the most energy-efficient equipment currently available to the mining industry.A promising path to significantly improve the value and energy intensity of metalliferous mining involves the adoption of pre-concentration strategies that reject uneconomic material from processing streams and increase the grade of ore prior to treatment at the processing plant. These strategies introduce significant complexity into the optimisation of the cut-off grade policy for the development of resources.This thesis examines the economic and production impacts of improved energy-efficiency in metalliferous mining operations, the introduction of emission pricing in Australia and the application of pre-concentration strategies for the optimal development of a low-grade AuCu deposit. A novel methodology has been derived from the optimal cut-off grade policy incorporating pre-concentration and stockpiling strategies to evaluate the economics, energy consumption and associated emissions attributable to production over the life of a mining operation.iii The examination of pre-concentration strategies confirms their potential to create considerable value for treatment constrained operations, increasing the conversion of resources to reserves and decreasing the energy and emission intensities of production.As the industry continues toward the development of lower quality resources and maintains a strong reliance on fossil fuels, the energy and emission intensities of metal production will continue to rise. Innovative solutions that seek to upgrade ore prior to energy intensive grinding can significantly improve the economics of an operation and the energy and emission intensities of production.iv

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Section: Selective Blasting and Screeningmentioning

confidence: 99%