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A Study on Main and Interaction Effects of Operating Variables of Column Flotation

Sep 13, 2010

By G Kluck, N Stoitis, D R. Seaman, R A. Lauten

The presence of clays, in particular clay slime, may complicate many mining operations. Clay slime particles may possess a negative or positive charge depending upon the pH in the process and their presence may lead to reduced recoveries in flotation processes. It is assumed that slime particles may adsorb onto the surfaces of the minerals to be floated and by doing so, reducing the efficacy of the flotation chemicals. In this work it is shown that addition of a small amount of dispersant, either a polyacrylic acid or an anionic polyphenolic polymer, increases the recovery of copper and gold, both in laboratory trials and in plant testing of an ore with high clay content. Measurements of adsorption isotherms reveal that the tested dispersants show preferential adsorption towards the clay minerals present, suggesting that the improved recovery upon dispersant addition occurs by prevention of attachment of clay slime particles onto primarily chalcocite but also chalcopyrite.CITATION:Seaman, D R, Lauten, R A, Kluck, G and Stoitis, N, 2012. Usage of anionic dispersants to reduce the impact of clay particles in flotation of copper and gold at the Telfer Mine, in Proceedings 11th AusIMM Mill OperatorsÆ Conference, pp 207-214 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Oct 29, 2012

The upper amphibolite-grade mctasediments of thc rinaroo area, North Queensland, form part of a regional aurcole to the large Tinaroo Batholith and are the stratigraphic equivalents of the Hodgkinson Formation of gencrally low metamorphic grade. There is no evidence of any lithological unconformity.The higher grade metasediments have a more complex deformation history than is typical for thc surrounding region and this may bc due to one or a combination of two factors; an additional strain componcnt associated wilh the intrusion of Ihe Tinaroo Batholith, or a more marked finite strain response to the overall regional stress field within hotter. more ductile rocks.Four deformational events can be characterized within Ihc Tinaroo Area. Close to Ihe Tinaroo Batholith D1 and D2, arc so strongly developed that they disrupl the continuily of Ihe original Iithological layering. In the aureole region, D1 is strongly overprinted and its original fabric intensity is obscured, but both D2 and D3 display a mappable decrease in intensity away from the granite margin. These three deformations occurred during Carboniferous or early Permian time. D4 is later and only patchily developed.The broad, moderate pressure metamorphic aureole surrounding the Tinaroo Batholith is a typical of the CairnsCooktown group of Permo-Carboniferous granitoids. which usually develop narrow, lower pressure contact aureoles. Two periods of metamorphism are distinguishable. The first reached peak temperatures somewhat greater than 520°C, the second temperatures around 620-630° C immediately adjacent to the granite contact.Several cale-silicate lenses containing scattered scheelite mineralization occur within the area. Scheelite appears to have crystallized at the same time as the cale-silicate minerals, its appearance coinciding with the intrusion of the Tinaroo Batholith. Unlike many "skarn-type" scheelite deposits, the scheelite-bearing cale-silicates are Fe-poor, with no positive correlation between total Fe and W.

Jan 1, 1982

By Barnett J. C

The arid and semi-arid region of Western Australia occupies about two-thirds of the State equivalent to an area of about 1.8 million sqkm. Groundwater demand in this area has historically been linked to the pastoral andmining industries commencing with the gold discoveries in the Eastern Goldfields some 100 years ago. Substantial increases in demand have occurred in the past two decades initially as a result of nickel discoveriesin the early 1970's and more recently the rapid resurgence of the gold mining industry. Mineral exploration and development in the Great Sandy Desert at Telfer (gold) and Kintyre (uranium) and in the Great Victoria Desert at MulgaRocks (uranium) has also been accompanied by detailed groundwater investigations.

Jan 1, 1988

The kinetics of the hydrogen reduction of iron oxides in granular calcined bauxite were studied at 550-1,050°C in a shallow bed reactor. The iron oxides behaved as a dispersion of particulate iron oxide in a porous alumina matrix in which the iron oxide particles were reduced independently. The observed rates of reaction were found to be virtually independent of the bauxite grain size. At 800,°C and above, the reduction was multistage, Le.1. Fe203 +2Al203 (matrix) ?2FeAl204, and2. FeAl204? Fe0 +Al203.Reaction 1 was very rapid. Reaction 2 was much slower, the latter stages being controlled, at least in part, by phYSIcal changes of the Fe0 and a-Al203 produced in the reaction. Owing to the observed nature of the material, the reaction rate controlling steps could not be determined.

Jan 1, 1972

By Chang TS, Suzuki K, Go H, Nakamura S, Kuwano Y

In 1979, a test operation of an experimental blast furnace was carried out to investigate the behavior of a sort of formed coke, which was used safely by 30% of total coke charge in No.2 B.F., Sakai works, NSC, in 1975". The Mashec-type formed coke of 60 x 60 x 40 mm in dimension was crushed and screened so that it had the same size range (1011,20 mm) as ordinary coke used in the base operation. Preceding to the operation, some experiments on the properties of the formed coke and the effects of crushing on them were performed.

Jan 1, 1981

By Morley I. W

In the year 1926, Edie Creek, in the Morobe District of the Mandated Territory of New Guinea, saw the greatest gold rush of recent years. Situated 35 miles inland from the coast, and at an altitude of over 6000 feet, Edie Creek presented to the original prospectors a wet, jungle-clad uninhabited, and inhospitable region. There were no roads; and the only means of approach from the equally inhospitable coast was by an eight to ten days' tramp through coastal swamps and gorge-scarred mountains. All food supplies and equipment had to be carried on the backs of "kanakas," and in many cases through country occupied by hostile natives.Since the first discovery of payable gold at Edie Creek, mining on the Morobe Goldfield has shown remarkable progress, and in spite of the tremendous natural difficulties, the field today ranks as one of the most important in Australasia.Aeroplanes, more than any other factor, have been responsible for this rapid development. They provide the only means of transport from the coast, and at present serve the needs of over 600 Europeans and 3000 indentured native labourers engaged in the industry.

Jan 1, 1933

By Alder KF

Nuclear power stations to be installed in Australia will be fuelled from Australian resources of raw materials. This will require the establishment of new manufacturing industries and the eventual expansion of established activities, especially in uranium mining and the preparation of precision metal products. This paper presents some predictions of the possible growth of nuclear power installations in Australia. These might amount to 4000 MWE by 1985 and 11,500 MWE by 1990 and towards the end of the century, about 50% of new generating plant might be nuclear. Predictions are given of the demands for materials (uranium and zirconium) and fuel manufacturing services for four reactor systems which might be considered in the programme. - The availability of raw materials and technical capability place Australia in a particularly good position to undertake the manufacture of nuclear fuel'; in addition to satisfying the domestic demand we should actively seek export markets for these products.

Jan 1, 1970

Draglines have been a significant part of world open cut mining since the early part of the 20th century particularly for the removal of overburden in the strip mining of coal. Since the mid-1960s draglines have played a major part in the large strip mining coal developments of Queensland and New South Wales.There are now over 60 large draglines operating in Australia ranging in size from 23 to 103 cubic metres bucket capacity, with digging depths to 60 metres, dumping heights to 50 metres and dumping radii to 100 metres. The application of these draglines has progressed through the uncovering of coal in shallow, single seam operations to deep multi-seam operations requiring a greater dependence on pre-stripping activities ahead of the dragline to remove overburden not able to be efficiently handled by the dragline.

Jan 1, 1992

There has been a significant increase in exploration and development of mineral wealth in South East Asia over the past five years. This paper describes the foreign investment laws in the region as they relate to the mining industry.

Jan 1, 1993

The application of methods using large diameter down holes has become an important facet in both the development and stoping operations of mines within the Aberfoyle group. Holes of up to 98 metres (vertical) and 78 metres (inclined) have been successfully used in stoping operations. A number of rises have been developed to meet ventilation, servicing and escape-way requirements. The most ambitious rise to date has been a..vertical 93 metre long by 4.50 metre square ventilation rise. Although some early problems were experienced, the ultimate successful completion of this rise has enabled the technique to be incorporated with confidence in future mining plans. This paper summarises experience in long hole rising techniques, their evolution from the original cratering concepts, and the approach to further development of these techniques.

Jan 1, 1982

In the early 1950's, it was forecast that there would be, worldwide, a need for approximately sixty computers! Included in that estimate was provision for a considerable amount of geoscience modelling. Since 1950, the role and concept of the computer has changed. With that change has come alteration and adaptation within industry in order to better utilise the services and tools that computers can provide. For example the science of statistics prior to the computer was regarded as an intractible speciality. Computers have allowed the exploitation and further generation of statistical theory. In turn, as the science of statistics has become practical and relevant, the mineral geologist has moved from being essentially "a-numeric" to "non-numeric" to highly skilled in the application and use of very sophisticated statistical concepts. The modern computer provides the opportunity to perform many of the old practices more conveniently and/or economically and, perhaps more importantly, for exploration it provides- an enormous range of activities which previously would have been impossible. Such new activities allow for imaginative and creative application and extension of basic theory into practical situations, which when used by well trained, able people can open up new avenues of exploration. However, the use of such tools by poorly trained or incompetent people can lead to errors potentially as great as any success derived from the same tools. This paper reviews some applications of the computer to exploration, and attempts to discuss likely future developments.

Jan 1, 1987

By Wernick B. J

Recently, the Environmental Engineering Laboratory of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa Research Organization has made signifi- cant progress in the development of more accurate algorithms for assessing heat flow in gold mines. These algorithms have been incor- porated into an overall computer program, ENVIRON, which enables the complete thermo- dynamic analyses of mine ventilation and cool- ing systems to be carried out. Recently, efforts have concentrated on the development of an expert computer system which will guide engineers in the process of selecting the most appropriate environmental control strategy.

Jan 1, 1988

Simulation and animation models have developed rapidly over the past decade. Even so, the current state-of-the-art can be viewed only as being in a state of continual development with improvements in both hardware and software constantly being

Jan 1, 1998

Commencing from a platform acknowledging the capability of the Russian mining industry in open cut and underground mining operations a revitalisation of the industry will depend on an assimilation of mining economics and on an opportunity for technical training of Russian mining industry professionals.Successful foreign investment in parallel with the reconstruction of the industry rests on an understanding of culture, history, internal controls under central planning, and external factors affecting mining development.

Jan 1, 1997

By Hoberg H, Schneider FU

Flotation tests were conducted with galena, quartz and with synthetic mixtures of the two, in different ranges of grain size, and with different process parameter variants. Physico-chemical analyses were also carried out on surface energy and on xanthate adsorption on galena with different grain sizes. Reference will also be made to hydrodynamics, interfacial chemistry and the influence exerted by grain size in flotation.

Jan 1, 1993

By Kelly BJ, Smith GA

The recommendations of a recent American report on "Better contracting for Underground Construction" are considered in relation to Contracting practices on major Australian projects by representatives Of the "classical trilogy" - the Owner, Engineer and Contractor.

Jan 1, 1976

By C Laming, P M. Hetherington, F A. Pym, M P. Murphy, K E. Crook

Reconciliation is a powerful tool used by mining operations to compare the mass and grade of ore produced with what was estimated before mining. The primary objective of reconciliation is to verify that the estimated planned metal production is achieved during processing, allowing issues to be identified for which adjustments can be made throughout the mining value chain to improve recovery and maximise efficiency. Traditionally, the mine plan is based on estimated mine grades using sampled exploration drill hole or blasthole grades. Reconciliation discrepancies between the mine plan and mill are common due to such factors as insufficient or non-representative sampling, poorly conceived models, or unrecognised blast movement. MineSense Technologies Limited® (MTL) has developed an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) sensor-based ore classification system that is installed on mining equipment to provide real-time grade estimates of run-of-mine material at bucket, truck, or belt-scale. Bucket level grade estimates provide insights into grade variations at the mine face that were never before available. This data set eliminates some of the leading causes of reconciliation discrepancies and enables tracking of tonnages and grades from the mine face to the processing plant at bucket resolution with confidence. Bucket-by-bucket grades at the mine face enable dynamic optimisation of the mine plan to stabilise the mill feed grade through blending of mine and stockpile loads. Beyond stabilising feed grade, Mine to Mill reconciliation combined with the full XRF spectrum response can generate proxy relationships to ore characteristics like hardness and recovery. These properties can then be predicted at the mine face, enabling further optimisation of the downstream mill feed, not only for grade, but also for power and water consumption, reagent addition, and recovery. This paper presents the benefits of MTL technology for grade reconciliation and mill performance optimisation at a Cu Mine in BC (Canada).

Mar 22, 2022

Orebodies in the Mt. Charlotte - Hannans North Area N. & B. of the town of Kalgoorlie provide a marked'dontrast to the pyrite - telluride lodes of the Golden Mile, although both groups of orebodies appear to be fundamentally related. These highly siliceous telluride free orebodies N. of the Golden Mile are closely related to strong oblique faulting. The Golden Mile. lodes, while possessing an apparent over-all relationship to the oblique faults also have a close relationship to E.-dipping strike faults.

Jan 1, 1964

By Wang J, Ma Y, Jia H

The Hedong Gold Mine is located in the Yan(ai area, tihandong hroo%ill, e. China. It is an underground mine with an annual gold output of some 700 0(H) grams. The orebody is located on the edge of the Wanger Shan metamorphism zone, and the hangingwall of orebodies is thus defined by a prominent set of fractures. The proximity of the metamorphism zone and the inclusion of the fracture set ensure that both the orebody and the country rocks are unstable. The main orebodies dip at an angle of between 40 to 45¦, with a strike length of 160 metres and a horizontal width of 50 metres. Surface subsidence in the area is not permitted. Cut and fill mining is usually practiced. As the mining operation proceeds to greater depths, the ore grade is diminishing and it is necessary to find a more efficient stoping method. Sublevel open stoping with sequential extraction and filling of each sublevel has been designed and applied in situ. This new mining method is called 'sublevel open and fill stoping method' in the mine. Experience to-date is that new mining method is Satisfactory.

Jan 1, 1998