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By Yongzhong Xiao, Tiejun Chun, Jian Pan, Zhen He, Deqing Zhu

"In this paper, the reduction kinetics of low grade hematite ore was calculated. Mineralogy shows that the ROM (run of mine) ore is of low grade hematite ore type, assaying 27.2 wt% Fetotal and with main valuable minerals of hematite. The reduction kinetics shows that the reduction reaction rates of pellets with additive and without additive are all controlled by diffusion through the product layer. The calculated apparent activation energy of pellets with 12 wt% complex additive is 8.55 KJ/mol, dropping 62.23% compared to that of pellets without additive.IntroductionWith the rapid development of iron and steel industry in China, there has been a soaring demand for iron ores in the past decade. The imports of iron ores have increased from 148 million ton in 2003 to 620 million ton in 2010[1]. Therefore, large quantities of low grade iron resources are necessary to utilize in China at the moment. During the past years, extensive research has been carried out on the low grade hematite ores [2-6], such as reverse floatation, gravity separation, high-gradient magnetic separation and direct reduction-magnetic separation. Direct reduction-magnetic separation is an innovation way to treat the low grade hematite [7]. However, the research of reduction kinetics of low grade hematite is few. Some research about the reduction kinetics of reducing iron oxides by CO was studied [8]. The results indicated that the apparent activation energy is 8.0-28 KJ/mol when the reducing reaction is controlled by internal diffusion. The apparent activation energy is 50-75 KJ/mol when the reducing reaction is controlled by chemical reaction. In this paper, the reduction kinetics of pellets was also been studied."

Jan 1, 2012

By A. V. Tarasov, A. D. Besser

A processing flowsheet has been developed for treating substandard lead-containing polymetallic bulk concentrates and intermediate flotation products containing precious metals, which comprises oxidizing roasting in a calcination kiln and electrothermic smelting generating low volumes of off-gas. The proposed flowsheet also incorporates a dust collection system and sulfur dioxide recovery from off-gas. It is proposed to implement this process by using a reaction smelting technique. For this purpose, the charge to be fed to the smelting furnace after its calcination in a drum-type rotary kiln must have a ratio of sulfide sulfur to sulfate sulfur of at least 1 :2. Electric smelting makes it possible to produce lead bullion that also collects the precious metals contained in the feed, as well as copper-lead matte and slag containing zinc. The recovery of lead into lead bullion and into matte is approximately 83% and 14%, respectively (thus the overall recovery is 97%); the total recovery of gold and silver into lead bullion and matte is 98%; th\lt of copper into matte is 89%; the recovery of zinc into slag is 96%; and that of sulfur into sulfuric acid or gypsum is 90%. After the recovery of zinc from slag, the latter can be utilized in the construction industry.

Jan 1, 2000

By Sung-Joo Lee, Gi-Chon Han, Nam-Il Um, Hee-Chan Cho

"In Korea, almost all of bottom ash produced by coal power plants is disposed of in ash ponds. Ash storage areas comprise more than 80% of most coal power plant sites. This disposal method is causing environmental problems and a managerial burden for plant operators. In this study, investigations to develop a beneficiation process for separating coal pond ash into various products were undertaken. To improve efficiency of the separation, coal ash was separated by sizes and each size fraction was subject to various beneficiation processes. The separation process used were flotation (-200 mesh size), hindered settling (16x200) and tabling (16x200 and 8x16 mesh). The results showed that various marketable products, such as lightweight aggregate, sand, high-carbon fuel, could be recovered from coal pond ash using simple physical separation techniques.IntroductionDue to the increased use of coals every year, about fifty million ton of coals were used in 2007 alone. As a result, about 6 million tons of coal ash were generated. In Korea, the coal bottom ash is classified as a general industrial waste and is usually disposed of in ash ponds. The costs for this disposal method continue to increase due to rising costs of site management and development and more strict environmental regulation. Therefore, utilities are constantly looking for ways to increase utilization of coal ash. In this study, various beneficiation processes were evaluated to examine the possibility of separating coal pond ash into various products which can be used as aggregates and high-carbon fuel."

Jan 1, 2008

By L. L. Tavlarides, N. V. Deorkar

"Recovery/Recycling of metal ions from industrial process waste streams is a preferred alternative to disposal by conventional techniques. This paper presents methods for preparation of inorganic chemically active adsorbents to be used in fixed bed adsorbers. Methods for immobilization of chelating agents on the inorganic supports are discussed. The prepared adsorbents are characterized to determine coverage density of functional groups, effect of pH on metal ion removal efficiency, regeneration efficiency and uptake capacity. Results from the laboratory scale and bench scale experiments are presented here.IntroductionRemoval of heavy metal ions from processing wastes in various industries is an important problem. Waste streams in electroplating, electronic, catalyst preparation and hydrometallurgical industries contain metal ions such as copper, nickel, chromium, lead, tin, cadmium, silver, gold and platinum. One major concern for the non-ferrous metal industry is secondary recovery of precious metals and cyanide from cyanide leachate from smelter residue and hydrometallurgical waste streams.Recovery methods recently considered include evaporation, electrolyte metal recovery, reverse osmosis (1), adsorption, ion exchange (2,3), membrane separation (4,5) and Solvent extraction. These processes have met with various levels of limited success. The use of liquid ion exchange molecules to selectively extract metal ions for on-site treatment of these waste streams is currently receiving substantial interest (6,7). This interest seems from an awareness of the advances made in the development of commercial extractants for metal ion separation in hydrometallurgical industries (8). However, separation by solvent extraction processes is generally considered to be economical in the range of aqueous metal ion concentrations from 0.01 to 1.0 mol/lit (9). In order to exploit the selectivity of chelating agents, the idea of immobilizing chelating agent into a solid matrix has attracted growing attention in recent years. Many supports such as inorganic oxides, organic polymers, cellulose powder and polyurethane foam can be used for immobilization of chelating agents. Over the last decade, considerable efforts have been directed toward attachment/introduction of chelating agents into a polymer matrix (10,11). Inorganic supports as compared to polymer supports provide high mechanical strength, chemical and thermal stability, and high reaction rates due to open pore structure. On the contrary, organic resins shrink and swell, thus affecting mass transfer (12). Many of the disadvantages of polymer supports can be excluded by the use of inorganic supports. Innovative use of immobilization techniques can produce inorganic chemically active adsorbents with comparable capacity, stability and reaction rates. Consequently, the objective of our program is the development of inorganic chemically active adsorbents to be used in a fixed-bed unit operation as an alternative heavy metal ion recovery process. Methods of preparation of inorganic chemically active adsorbents, (ICAAs) characterization and applications are discussed in this paper. A brief summary of the results from laboratory scale studies and bench scale studies is presented."

Jan 1, 1996

By Roderick I. L. Guthrie, Donghui Li, Mihaiela Isac, Luis Calzado

The HSBC is an ideal process for the production of BMG strips. The purpose of the present work was to investigate the casting of Ca-based, bulk amorphous strips. The possibility of casting three Ca-based alloys (60Ca-20Mg-20Al, 60Ca-15Mg-10Al-15Zn and 55Ca-15Mg-10Al-15Zn- 5Cu (at.%).) was investigated, using the HSBC simulator. Numerical simulation and mathematical modeling were used to predict temperature variations and cooling rates, under different interfacial gaseous atmospheres (helium and air) near the meniscus region. Given the critical cooling rates and glass temperatures needed to be reached for the vitrification of the respective alloys, this leads to predictions of the critical thicknesses possible with this novel casting process. To validate our predictions, these alloys were then prepared and cast onto the sand-blasted, solid copper substrate mould of the HSBC simulator. The possibility of producing Ca-based metallic glassy strips via the HSBC processes was confirmed, using optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy, to characterize the glassy properties of the cast strips. It was found that the HSBC process would be able to provide sufficient cooling to form amorphous strips for the 60CA-15Mg-10Al-15Zn and 55Ca-15Mg- 10Al-15Zn-5Cu alloys, but not the 60Ca-20Mg-20Al alloy.

Jan 1, 2014

By K. Robinson

Following the longest Smelter campaign in BCL?s history it was planned to completely rebuild the flash smelting furnace in 1987. This was the fourth major overhaul and the most extensive so far attempted. Detailed planning took place over several year$ preceding the shutdown and implementation was completed in 54 days. The key to minimising shutdown time was the method designed for installation of the new uptake shaft and reaction shaft. Major repair work was also undertaken in the waste heat boiler and electric furnaces. Both of these activities had an impact on the critical path of the flash smelting furnace overhaul.

Jan 1, 1993

By A. Cullaj

Several industrial sites suffer from the contamination of soils from heavy metals, which are emitted among others by anthropogenic mining and metallurgical activities. Effective and economic physicochemical technologies for remediation of these sites remain complicated and costly. A new alternative remediation technique is the so-called phytoremediation. This is based on the ability of some plants to accumulate very high concentrations of metals from soils and thus providing the basis for a remediation of the contaminated sites. This technique as an emerging branch of natural biotechnology, has several advantages compared to the sophisticated physicochemical techniques of soil remediation. It is not only environmentally friendly but also its costs are quite low since it is solar driven. Furthermore plants can accumulate metals to such levels that the mineral recovery maybe feasible even in conventional Ni refinery or smelting operations. In this work, thc potential of many plants to accumulate nickel has been investigated in order to identify the species which offer the best phytoremedial potential for nickel contaminated soils in Albania. Field surveys have been made in five nickel-containing sites in order to identify the nickel tolerant species that have spontaneously grown in contaminated soils. Atomic Absorption Spectrometry measurements were carried out on 145 different plants collected. 16 of them were identified as having an hyper ability to accumulate nickel since they contained more than 10 000 mg Ni per kg (DW). Seven taxa are of Alyssum genus and one of Bornmuellera genus of Cruciferae. The highest accumulation of nickel was present in aerial parts of Alyssum murale var. chlorocarpum Hausskn (25 500 mglkg or 2.5%) and Alyssum markgrafli O.E. Schulz (23 700 mg/kg or 2.37%). The seeds germinated are more evidenced at A.m.var. chlorocarpum, about 63%. These plants are suggested as the most promising species to be used for phytoremediation purposes in nickel contaminated soils and phytoextraction of nickel.

Jan 1, 2003

By Chuanfu Zhang

Based on Thermogravimetric and Differential thermal analysis (TGA-DTA), porous copper powder is prepared by thermal decomposition of complicated copper oxalate. The effects of various conditions on the morphology, crystalline grain size and specific surface area of copper powder were investigated, including temperature, duration, mixing ratio of nitrogen and hydrogen. Furthermore, composition and morphologies of the products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and BET adsorption isotherm. It is found that porous copper powder was produced under optimum conditions. The specific surface area is over 6.74 m2?g-1, and average pore size in particles is about 30.3 nm. After comparison of SEM images, the final product Cu well inherits the morphology of the precursor, thus a mechanism of in-situ decomposition is proposed.

Jan 1, 2009

By Federico Chavez

The process for recovering lead from battery residues used in several Mexican Plants include lead blast furnace and rotary furnaces. The formers are basically fed with recycled batteries together with the necessary additives to produce metallic lead. One of the by-products generated in the blast furnace is a dust mainly formed by lead sulfide. The rotary furnace is used to recover lead .from lead batteries, dross from the refining-alloying process and the leady fines produced in the blast furnace. This paper describes thennodynamic analysis made to the rotary furnace process to understand the effect that each component of the system has upon the lead recovery. In order to enhance the process, the influence of iron chips composition and excess coke on slag viscosity is discussed. A computer optimization program . has been developed to design the furnace charge based on material and energy balances, .together with the thennodynamic equilibrium calculation.

Jan 1, 1995

By Yong J. Kim, J. M. Park

"Solid/melt interface shape during continuous casting process has a strong influence on the resulting microstructure of the ingot. The interface shape is primarily governed by the heat flow condition between the molten metal and mold (or container). The roll of the microstructural transition resulting from various solid/melt interface shapes is discussed using the Sn-22.6wt%Pb alloy. Three different types of mold such as cold mold, resistantly heated mold, and electromagnetically heated mold were used to generate those interfaces having different curvatures. Experimental measurements of complete temperature profile along the axis and surface of the ingot during downward continuous casting are presented to determine the solid/melt interface geometry. The results provide an explanation of the ingot property with emphasis on microstructure.IntroductionA large scale of continuous casting process of alloys often has a rather deep V channel type of solid/melt interface resulting from a limited heat flow condition. As a result, the deep V type solid/melt interface shape entraps defects such as pores and inclusions and also creates canter segregation. In order to reduce the defects concentration, electromagnetic stirring(EMS) mechanism has been applied to the melt in the channel[l]. Speith and Bungeroth introduced first experimental EMS device to the continuous caster in 1952.[2] Today, with wide ranges of benefit, a large variety of such technique is available. Electromagnetic field on the melt can be divided into three aspects. First, eddy current is induced on the metal surface by alternating magnetic field with high frequency, which results in heating the metal. Second, electromagnetic body force which is generated by the magnetic field and the eddy current reduces the melt pressure on mold or support the melt not to contact with the mold[3,4,5]. This force is used for electromagnetic casting process(EMC). Finally, it causes stirring in the melt. Many research efforts have been done on the EMC process to improve surface quality of slab[6] and control meniscus shape where three phases such as melt, solidified metal, and mold powder coexist[7,8]. However, the eddy current heating effect on the surface of the ingot was less considered. It is worth noting that induced eddy current on the surface of slab melts the solidified shell and thus changes the heat flow condition between the mold and melt. Mold heating effect was first proposed by A. Ohno[9] and its processing conditions were identified in details[ 10, 11]. The so-called Ohno process is based on the fact that by keeping the mold temperature slightly above the melting temperature of the liquid, no grain can be nucleated on the mold wall[12]."

Jan 1, 1998

By A. Cullaj

Several industrial sites suffer from the contamination of soils from heavy metals, which are emitted among others by anthropogenic mining and metallurgical activities. Effective and economic physicochemical technologies for remediation of these sites remain complicated and costly. A new alternative remediation technique is the so-called phytoremediation. This is based on the ability of some plants to accumulate very high concentrations of metals from soils and thus providing the basis for a remediation of the contaminated sites. This technique as an emerging branch of natural biotechnology, has several advantages compared to the sophisticated physicochemical techniques of soil remediation. It is not only environmentally friendly but also its costs are quite low since it is solar driven. Furthermore plants can accumulate metals to such levels that the mineral recovery maybe feasible even in conventional Ni refinery or smelting operations. n this work, the potential of many plants to accumulate nickel has been investigated in order to identify the species which offer the best phytoremedial potential for nickel contaminated soils in Albania. Field surveys have been made in five nickel-containing sites in order to identify the nickel tolerant species that have spontaneously grown in contaminated soils. Atomic Absorption Spectrometry measurements were carried out on 145 different plants collected. 16 of them were identified as having an hyper ability to accumulate nickel since they contained more than 10 000 mg Ni per kg (OW). Seven taxa are of Alyssum genus and one of BornmueIIera genus of Cruciferae. The highest accumulation of nickel was present in aerial parts of Alyssum murale var. chlorocarpum Hausskn (25 500 mg/kg or 2.5%) and Alyssum markgrafii O.E. Schulz (23 700 mg/kg or 2.37%). The seeds germinated are more evidenced at A.m.var. chlorocarpum, about 63%. These plants are suggested as the most promising species to be used for phytoremediation purposes in nickel contaminated soils and phytoextraction of nickel.

Jan 1, 2003

By J. Murdoch Mackenzie

Two commercial nickel solvent extraction plants treating laterite leach solutions and using LIX®84-I have been operated in Australia. These circuits employ similar extraction chemistry but differ in their leaching and stripping operations. An alternative process involving elements of both can be conceived. The preparation of the feed solution to solvent extraction plays an important role in nickel extraction using LIX®84-I and the special features of manganese removal and cobalt oxidation in the preparation of the PLS are discussed. This paper compares these three circuit configurations with special reference to the extraction and reductive stripping of cobalt, the transfer of zinc and copper to the strip aqueous, ammonia transfer and sulfur transfer. The potential degradation of the organic and remediation using re-oximation is discussed. Keywords: Nickel, Solvent Extraction, Oxime

Jan 1, 2004

By M. T. Thomas

Sufficient development of the X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), the Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES), and the Secondary Ion Mass pectroscopy (SIMS) has made these instruments ideal for solving problems related to mineral processing -particularly gold ore processing. XPS can determine both the surface composition and chemistry of ores and tailings, and the various phases within either of them. AES can also determine surface composition with the further advantage of having greater spatial resolution so the surface chemistry associated with specific minerals in the ore can be identified. This identification helps to clarify why some minerals pass through a chemical process unaffected, while others can be successfully treated. SIMS has an elemental sensitivity from one to four orders of magnitude greater than XPS or AES which makes it useful for detecting the presence of some elements in very low concentration (parts per million).

Jan 1, 1981

By S. Malinov, J. J. McKeown, W. Sha, S. McShane

"A model is developed for prediction of fatigue stress life S-N diagrams for Ti-6Al-4V alloy at different conditions, using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Different factors which have influence on the S-N diagram are involved as input parameters of the NN, namely microstructure, environment, texture, test/work temperature, surface treatment and stress amplitude. As the output the S-N fatigue diagram is simulated and plotted.The model is based on standard multilayer feedforward neural network. The NN is trained with a comprehensive data set collected from the literature, using Levenberg-Marquardt training algorithm in combination with Bayesian regularisation. A very good performance of the trained Neural Network is achieved. Good correspondence between ANN"" prediction and experimental S-N diagrams is observed. Using the model S-N diagrams for different conditions are predicted and analysed. Graphical User Interface is developed for use of the model. We believe that the model will be important for practical applications in solving various problems on fatigue behaviour of the titanium alloy.IntroductionTitanium and its alloys have an increasing range of applications due to their very good combination of mechanical properties, corrosion and erosion resistance. They are currently finding widespread applications in many industries due to their desirable and versatile properties. Most important among the alloys is Ti-6AI-4Y. Jet aircraft manufacturers are the principal 'consumers of Ti-6Al-4V and it is often specified for critical parts, the failure of which could result in the loss of an entire system. A generic class of Ti-6AI-4V has been developed over the past years and it has become the best understood of all the titanium alloys. The advantages of titanium alloys include: (i) low densities, giving very attractive strength to weight ratios allowing lighter and stronger structures; (ii) superior corrosion and erosion resistance in many environments; (iii) high temperature capability. Although the titanium materials are still considered as expensive materials, for many applications the cost of titanium alloys can be justified on the basis of their desirable properties."

Jan 1, 2001

By Young-Chul Kang

The Onsan Copper Smelter of LG-Nikko Copper Inc. is a unique plant, which has been operating two smelting processes since 1998. The operation of the first one was started in 1979 with a capacity of 80,000tpy of copper in concentrates utilizing Outokumpu flash-smelting technology. The other one was started in 1998 based on Mitsubishi continuous process with a capacity of 160,000 tpy of copper in concentrates. Through several expansion projects, the total smelting capacity of both processes is expected to reach 430,00Otpy of copper in concentrates towards the end of 2002. This article describes operation advantages of having two different processes at one plant and comparative operation results in terms of productivity, impurity distribution, energy consumption and environment issues and etc.

Jan 1, 2003

By Jian Li, Tiejun Chun, Jian Pan, Deqing Zhu, Vinicius Mendes

"A study of the coal-based direct reduction behaviors of composite binder magnetite pellets was carried out in a simulating coal-based grate-rotary kiln process. It is shown that preheated pellets possess much better reducibility than fired oxide pellets: 40 min are required for preheated pellets to reach over 90% metallization degree compared to 100 min for fired oxide pellets. The compressive strength of preheated pellets decreases dramatically at the earlier stage of reduction, climbs quickly after reducing for 30min and achieves a high value at the end of reduction. However, the compressive strength of metallized pellets from reducing of fired pellets is much lower, more cracks and fractures being formed. In the preheated pellets, crystallite of metal iron is coarse. In the oxide pellet, a large number of interconnected crystals of metal iron are formed inside pellets, and pellet structure is very compact.IntroductionDirectly reduced iron is an excellent feed in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking, and possesses low tramp element content and steady component. It is generally preferred in the production of high quality steel [1-3]. Nearly 64.44 million tons of DRI were produced in 2009 over the world, over 80% of which were produced by gas-based processes, the left by coal-based processes. However, the DRI capacity was only 600 thousand tons in China in 2009. The EAF steel production has exceeded 40 million tons annually, and most of EAF operate on hot metal as feed [4]."

Jan 1, 2011

By Lucas L. Costa, Luiz F. Lopes, Ludy C. Motta, Felipe P. D. Lopes, Sergio N. Monteiro, Lara S. Vasconcellos

"Environmentally correct materials like the lignocellulosic natural fibers, which are renewable and biodegradable, are being extensively investigated as possible substitutes for synthetic fiber in polymeric composites. Several natural fibers have never been thoroughly investigated as possible composite reinforcement. The fiber obtained from the leaves of the buriti (Mauritia flexuosa) palm tree is one example. Therefore, the objective of this work was to study the properties of buriti waste fibers, in amounts of up to 30%, reinforcing polyester composites.IntroductionIn the past century, the technological development gave priority to new synthetic materials with energy intensive methods of production. Today, there is a concern that conventional energy source such as petroleum, natural gas and coal are the main responsible for global warming. Therefore, the use of natural materials is gaining attention not only for the saving in process energy but also the renewable and biodegradable characteristics that make them environmentally correct. The lignocellulosic natural fibers extracted from cultivated vegetables like jute, sisal, hemp, coconut, flax, ramie and many others are typical examples. This type of fiber is being extensively investigated as a possible substitute for synthetic ones, especially the glass fiber, as composite reinforcement [1].A relevant example of lignocellulosic fiber substitution is nowadays occurring in vehicles. The automobile industry is applying composites reinforced with natural fibers to replace parts such as panels and seat cushions made of fiberglass or polymeric foams [4], as illustrated in Fig. 1. The practical reasons for this preference are that natural fiber composites present less damage to tools and molding equipments as well as relatively better finishing and less abrasive surface than corresponding parts made, for instance, of glass fibers. On top of these advantages, low cost is probably the main motivation for the industrial interest for natural fiber composites, especially in the case of residual fibers [5] or post-used fabrics such as jute sackcloth [6]. Natural fibers, however, are hydrophilic and will not form strong bonding with a hydrophobic polymer, normally used as composite matrix [1-3]. Another disadvantage is the heterogeneous characteristics of a natural fiber, which is typical of biomaterials. This results in a relatively great dispersion of dimensions and properties values such as the mechanical strength [1-3]."

Jan 1, 2008

By Songlin Zhang

"The McCoy/Cove mine, located in Eureka-Battle Mountain trend of Nevada, is a gold and silver deposit. Case studies of recoverable reserve estimation for gold and silver were made using multiple indicator kriging and volume variance correction. The grade tonnage distributions of recoverable reserves were constructed and compared with the distributions defined by blast hole assays. Optimal pits were generated by Whittle 4D pit optimization package to analyze the impact of different processing recoveries at different economic cutoffs. The results were compared with ordinary kriging. The study indicates that the proposed method for multi-mineral recoverable reserve estimation is more accurate than kriging in tenns of grade and tonnage. The method of using recoverable reserves for pit optimization will maximize global reserve recovery and revenue, and is more efficient than condition simulation regarding computing power.ABSTRACT ONLY"

Jan 1, 1997

By Donna M. Noel

Bacterial strains have been cultivated from solids previously exposed to cyanide that will tolerate 300 ppm sodium cyanide under anaerobic conditions. In selected solid samples, these bacteria have been shown to reduce the level of cyanide from approximately 300 ppm to essentially zero in about 50 days under anaerobic conditions. Various media were investigated, and the nutrients providing maximal growth were ?established .. Degradation of cyanide in sterilized solids was determined for comparison with degradation obtained in bioactive solids. All experiments were conducted at ambient temperature and initial pH of approximately 10.5.

Jan 1, 1991

By M. Oliazadeh

Spodumene [LiAl(Si2O6)] is the most common and desirable economic lithium-bearing mineral due to its high lithium content. In Canada, there are several spodumene deposits at the development stage that have the potential to help narrow the forecast lithium supply gap stemming from the widespread acceptance and increasing use of electric vehicles. Spodumene processing can be conducted using Dense Media Separation (DMS), flotation or combination of both. If spodumene liberation is sufficient at coarse particle sizes, DMS can be used for primary lithium concentrate production and silicate gangue minerals rejection. If liberation is not sufficient, flotation is then the main processing route for spodumene concentration. Even in cases where DMS is a viable beneficiation option, flotation may still be required to process the DMS middlings and/or the undersize fraction which is outside the particle size range for DMS. Considering flotation as a technique for spodumene beneficiation, there are several alternatives including the use of mechanical flotation cells, column flotation cells, coarse particle flotation cells, and/or Staged Flotation Reactors (SFR), either alone or in combination. Ore sorting can be incorporated at the start of the spodumene flowsheet to remove gangue minerals, particularly amphibole and pyroxene in the early stages. The main objective of flowsheet development for hard rock lithium deposits is to evaluate the ability of these options to produce a spodumene concentrate with a concentrate grade above 6% Li2O, lithium recovery of above 80%, and with the minimum operating and capital cost. This paper aims to describe the various processing options available for the beneficiation of spodumene from hard rock deposits and compare the associated operating and capital costs for each.