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By W. J. Carlson, I. lwasaki

Manganese and silica in nonmagnetic tailings from the direct reduction-magnetic separation step were so closely associated that no physical concentration methods were effective. Dilute sulfuric acid dissolved manganese and iron rapidly; manganese in the form of silicates was virtually insoluble in sulfuric acid solutions, thereby governing the maximum extraction attained by leaching. Autoclave leaching at elevated temperatures and at high oxygen pressures reduced the iron extraction to less than one tenth without affecting the manganese extraction. There was an indication that autoclaving solubilized the manganese silicates appreciably. Elimination of iron from leach solutions was carried out by aerating the solution in the pH range of 6.5-7; a platinum-calomel electrode pair provided a reliable indicator for the end point of iron removal. The purified leach solutions were free of interfering impurities for the recovery of manganese as metal, dioxide, or carbonate. Manganiferous iron ores of the Cuyuna Range, Minn., are too low in iron content to be directly useful as iron ores, and too low in manganese content to be termed manganese ores. Common methods of physical beneficiation such as gravity concentration and flotation have not been successful in upgrading this material. The R-N process, when applied to manganiferous iron ores,1'2 produces sponge iron by direct reduction of iron oxides, while leaving manganese as manganous oxide. From fine grinding and magnetic separation of the reduced ore, a tailing is produced which is relatively rich in manganese and low in iron content. The nonmagnetic tailing can readily be leached with acids and then further processed to recover manganese in various forms. In this way, two processes, neither of which would be an economic solution to the Cuyuna ore problem by itself, may be combined to produce two marketable products, thereby rendering the over-all process economically more attractive. This article reports on the results of a leaching study on the nonmagnetic tailings, both in a batch agitation vessel and in an autoclave; on the problems involved in the purification of leach liquors by aeration; and on the recovery techniques used to produce manganese metal by electrolysis, manganese dioxide either by electrolysis or by autoclaving, and

Jan 1, 1968

By T. P. R. de Jong, H. Harbeck

"This contribution reports recent mineral sorting experience and lists the opportunities of the newest generation of automatic sorters with a special focus on electromagnetic detection and Xray transmission. With the available sensor resolutions and actuator systems that are available today sorting of minerals down to 2 mm size and up to 250 mm lump size is technically feasible. In industry, ore as well as coal is still hand-picked and current automation potential only utilised in a handful of specific applications. Recently a number of technological developments took place that may increase sorting potential, save mill costs and lead to lower overall tonnage costs.They are:??High speed and high resolution sorting systems based on X-ray transmission imaging??High speed on-line image processing and further development of advanced data processing??Modular multi-sensor automatic sorting units (using one or more sensors such as colour, electromagnetic and X-ray in a single device)??Sensitive electromagnetic sensors for sorting based on differences in magnetic susceptibility and electric conductivityThe above enables compact dry separation, insensitive for moisture fluctuations and at high separation sharpness, as well as “electronic” high gradient magnetic separation for larger particles. Besides conventional X-ray transmission (XRT), dual-energy XRT (DE-XRT) is now being redesigned to meet the requirements of the mining industry. The mentioned technologies provide automatic dry separation of minerals and rock as alternative for conventional processing."

Jan 1, 2005

By D. R. de Fontaine

By computing the values of the resolved shear stress for a great many orientations of the tensile axis on all 12 (111) <110> slip systems, Taylor and Elam&apos; were able to map out a stereogram of slip systems, given here, Fig. 1, in Diehl&apos;s notation (see, for example Hauser and Jackson&apos;). The purpose of the present note is to derive such a stereogram by mathematical reasoning and to give a simple method of defining the system with highest resolved shear stress for any direction of the tensile axis, thereby eliminating tedious computation of the Schmid factor. Let the tensile axis, of direction cosines [xyz], make the angles 0 and relative to the slip plane normal [HKL] and the slip direction [hkl] respectively. Fig. 2 shows a simple cubic cell whose edges define a Cartesian coordinate system. Let A be a unit vector of origin 0 supported by the tensile axis. Its end point [xyz] then lies on a sphere of unit radius, on the positive hemisphere of which the planes z = 0, x = y, y = z limit the so called primitive triangle of a standard [loo] stereographic projection. For any point of this triangle, the following hold: 0«2 «y *sx « 1 [l] Now, for given [xpz], the most highly stressed system will be the one for which the following expression of the Schmid factor has the largest possible value: (HKL) belonging to the form (111) and [hkl] to the form <110>, the denominator on the right hand side of Eq. [2] is equal to 1.fi.a. The unknowns H, ... h, . . . can now be determined by correctly distributing +1 and -1 to H, K, L, and +1, -1,O to h,k, 1 giving the numerator of Eq. [2] its greatest positive value (the angles 0 and cpare chosen acute) subject to the condition: Hh+Kk+Ll = 0 [3] since the slip direction must lie in the slip plane. Condition [3] can be satisfied only by having one of its terms vanish and the other two equal to +1 and -1. Taking the case of the tensile axis lying in the primitive triangle, x2y, z and therefore Hh will be chosen equal to +1 with H = h = +1 in order to retain a maximum of + signs. There remain two alternatives: either 1 = 0 or k = 0. 1) take 2 = 0 Then Kk = -1 and the numerator of [2] becomes: Retaining a maximum of + signs gives L = k = +1 and becomes: 2) take k = 0 Then L1 = -1and, likewise, the numerator of [2] becomes: xz - z2 + xy + yz [5] But the difference [5] - [4] can be written: (y - z)(x+y +z) [6] positive or zero by virtue of [I]. If [6] is positive (y > z), then the largest possible value for the numerator of [2] for any xyz inside the primitive triangle is given by [5], i.e., for: That is to say, the active slip system corresponding to an orientat:~on of the tensile axis inside the primitive triangle is:

Jan 1, 1962

By Ronald M. Van Noy

A reconnaissance study of kyanite-group mineral deposits in the Northwest has revealed large exploitable reserves of the mullite-forming raw materials in the Woodrat Mountain and Goat Mountain districts of north-central Idaho. Potential coproducts or byproducts are garnet and muscovite mica. The Woodrat Mountain district contains garnet-kyanite-mica schist, which has been traced for 6 miles and may extend farther. Surface samples average 29 percent kyanite and contain up to 15 percent garnet. Inferred reserves of strippable ore with a low waste-to-ore ratio, and containing more than 15 percent kyanite, are more than 3 billion short tons. The Goat Mountain district contains several kyanite-mineral zones. Samples of the richest zones average from 10 to 20 percent kyanite minerals and represent about 200 million short tons of strippable rock. Beneficiation tests indicate that the kyanite minerals and garnet can be concentrated by a combination of gravity, flotation, and electromagnetic methods. Reserves in these deposits are sufficient to satisfy any foreseeable domestic and export demand. However, the freight tariff to reach the nearest major users of kyanite (located in the Midwest) has discouraged development of western kyanite resources. Western demand of a magnitude to support a moderate to large milling operation has not yet been developed. However, there is some foreign market potential. If a garnet byproduct could be prepared and sold for coated abrasive products or as grinding grains, an offset possibly could be gained to a por¬tion of the mining and milling costs for the Pacific Northwest producer. Such byproduct values would offer a means for expanding the geographic market areas as well as the regional market potential.

Jan 1, 1970

By William G. Freeman

As with most industrial minerals, barite is freight sensitive. This paper is given so that others might gain from the experience of barite companies in reducing their transportation costs. Some of the approaches used were unusual and others standard, but by perseverance considerable savings were realized.

Jan 1, 1973

By Patricia R. Devine

This report expands an earlier study by Jack Faucett Associates (OFR #40-88) of the same title. Both reports are based upon an interindustry analysis from 1963 through 1982, during which time U.S. metals consumption and production did not keep pace with economic growth. The report discusses three sources of change: technological change, economic growth, and composition of final demand, as well as the relative importance of the individual components of final demand for metals. The results show investment and personal consumption to be the most metal-intensive components of final demand, and technological change to be the major cause of decline in consumption growth during the study period. Technology change is defined as alterations in production processes resulting in more or less consumption of metal per unit of output, often because of material substitutions and design changes. A trade analysis shows the significance of import growth, particularly indirect imports (metal contained in imported goods) as a factor contributing to the reduced growth rate of domestic metal production. The effect of import growth is partially offset by indirect export growth, suggesting that continued increase of all U.S. exports can have a strong effect in reducing the negative trade balance in metals.

Jan 1, 1988

By T. Plikas, L. H. Gunnewiek, L. Oshinowo

Electric furnace smelting is one of the principal unit operations for ferroalloy production, and increased process intensity, improved availability, minimal maintenance and a longer campaign life are common objectives for electric furnace operation in order to obtain favourable economics of production. Furnace designers have continued to develop innovative solutions that have allowed these objectives to be realised, e.g., furnace cooling systems, and numerical modelling plays a key role in the design process. Enhanced understanding of the energy transfer process in the furnace and the ability to develop, evaluate and optimise components of the crucible design to match process requirements are the key motivators for modelling. This paper provides an overview of recent applications of numerical modelling to the design of electric furnaces. The aim is to illustrate what can be done, and identify areas where further work is needed in this field. Examples include furnace bath modelling, crucible cooling system design, taphole design, baking of Soderberg electrodes, off-gas systems, and fume control and building ventilation. It is argued that the trend is for numerical models to become more encompassing while at the same time more accessible, and therefore further improvements in furnace design will be realised with continued and well validated modelling efforts.

Jan 1, 2004

Separation of dolomite from Florida phosphates was achieved by first conditioning the feed with fatty acid at pH 10 followed by reconditioning at pH 4 or below, before flotation. Observed selectivity of this two stage conditioning process was attributed to the amount as well as changes in the nature of the adsorbed collector species upon reconditioning. In this paper, bench scale flotation results of optimizing the major process parameters, such as reconditioning pH and collector dosage, for upgrading natural high dolomitic phosphate samples from Florida are discussed.

Jan 1, 1988

By S. H. Ash

THE INVESTIGATION of barrier pillars in the Southern field is part of the comprehensive study of the mine water problem in the anthracite region of Pennsylvania by the Federal Bureau of Mines (1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18).4 Tim Southern field is in Carbon, Schuylkill, Dauphin, and Lebanon Counties, in eastern Pennsylvania; has an area of 200 square miles; is 70 miles long from Mauch Chunk on the east to the Susquehanna River on the west; and is 1 to 6 miles wide. In the Southern field are 37 underground water pools containing 37312 billion gallons of water (5). Most of these pools overflow to the surface because the barrier pillars controlling them are effective under existent, conditions. Abandonment of mines in the Southern field has resulted in the hooding of 34 percent of the field. The largest tonnage of reserves of anthracite lies in this field, where mining conditions are most difficult. Large reserves of anthra¬cite underlie the abandoned mine workings, and before a great part of these reserves can be developed and extracted, the abandoned workings must be unwatered and kept drained (5).

Jan 1, 1953

By R. W. Nelson

The theoretical basis is presented for energy dissipation methods of measuring permeability in saturated heterogeneous media. Analysis starts with the equation for single-phase flow in heterogeneous porous media which is a first-order partial differential equation in the unknown permeability. This equation is reduced to a system of characteristic equations useful in deriving a differential expression for the permeability as a function of the known potential distribution. For steady flow systems the expression is integrable, giving the permeability integral for direct calculation of the distribution along successive streamlines. The boundary condition in permeability is presented and includes a discussion of the special requirement to assure uniqueness. Theoretical results and necessary computations are incorporated into two general computer programs capable of determining the permeability distribution in two- and three-dimensional steady flow systems. Results are then presented for an energy dissipation analysis using the methods and soltware to determine a field permeability thickness distribution. INTRODUCTION Theoretical work leading to the description of fluid flow in heterogeneous porous media has developed slowly and somewhat sporadically, although the areas of engineering applications predominantly involve flow in nonhomogeneous media. The lack of accurate and economical methods for measuring field permeability distributions has been a major limitation to realistic description of natural flow systems. The economical measurement of permeability using energy dissipation methods may overcome this limitation. Among other things, any permeability measurement method involves consideration of energy dissipation; as used here, "energy dissipation method" denotes the following general approach. The areal energy distribution is measured on an existing flow system in porous media. Then through appropriate analysis of the dissipation of energy in the flow system, the permeability distribution is determined throughout the region using the minimum boundary conditions required to assure a mathematically unique result. This paper presents the theoretical basis for such a method, as well as the techniques and computer software needed to carry out the analysis. The method and techniques are then used in a preliminary field application. EQUATIONS DESCRIBING FLOW IN HETEROGENEOUS MEDLA Heterogeneous as used here implies differing in kind, having unlike quantities or possessing different characteristics. Accordingly, a heterogeneous porous medium has unlike quantities or differing characteristics at different locations. More precisely, if a porous medium is heterogeneous with respect to some property, then that property is functionally dependent on the spatial location. (Media properties are considered here as macroscopic.) Specifically considering permeability k,** then k = G(x, y, z) ,............(1) or the permeability is a scalar function G of the location (x, y, z). Spatial variation of several other properties, of which porosity, dispersivity and medium compressibility are but a few, is implied by the broad title of heterogeneous porous media. The term will be used hereafter to imply only heterogeneity with respect to permeability. The porous medium is considered isotropic as implied by G being only a scalar function. Anisotropy

Jan 1, 1969

By Kimberly Martin

The EFFC/DFI Carbon Calculator provides the deep foundations industry the opportunity to be a leader when it comes to carbon reduction. This tool was created 10 years ago in an extensive effort by the European Federation of Foundation Contractors (EFFC), DFI, member organizations and Carbone 4, a consultant with ex- perience in life cycle assessment. The tool was born out of the fact that governments and clients were asking for embodied carbon information for foundation systems, and that in- dividual companies were building their own calculators to meet these requests. To help all member organ- izations achieve compliance, and to have a sector-specific tool that is certified to the prevailing standards, EFFC and DFI agreed to partner to create the carbon calculator, which is: Excel based and, therefore, easy to learn and use Updated on a regular schedule Certified to ISO 14067, GHG Protocol and PAS 2050 Free and available for anyone to use Even though this tool is free and easy to use, most projects in the industry do not have a carbon calculation performed. The case to use the calculator is more obvious for members in places like Europe where there are stricter reporting standards and government work can be driven by sustainability over cost. In North America this is not the case, yet. Without directives from clients and governments, what can compel the industry to start regularly using this tool and care about the carbon emissions of projects during design and construction?

Nov 1, 2022

By J. L. Gaigher

A simple mineralogical regression model is described, which was devised in order to help the flotation plant cope with rapidly changing headgrades and feed mineralogy. Minerals in the feed were determined by means of quantitative X-ray diffraction and compared with plant performance parameters and flotation reagent consumption rates, using regression analysis. A mineralogical regression model for predicting recovery served to motivate flotation plant personnel and also set standards whereby flotation performance could be measured. The reagent consumption model indicated in which direction any or all of five flotation consumption rates should be altered. All practically measurable parameters, even those showing poor or no correlation, were included in the model, provision being made for the continuous update of a batch of data of 30 lines. Compared with the method of multiple linear regressions, the r2 is poorer at 0,41 (versus 0,50), but the mean standard error of estimate for both methods is identical at ± 6,6 units. The regression model is simpler than the method of multiple linear regressions, and although the accuracy of prediction is not high (41%), the mineralogical regression model proved to be successful in practice. Flotation efficiency, as measured by the mean ratio of head to tails grade, for the 9 month period after the mineralogical regression model was implemented on an hourly basis, improved from 2,8 to 3,2, which is equivalent to an improvement in average flotation recovery of 5% relative.

Jan 1, 1987

In open cut gold mining at Mt Magnet and Reedy, grade control sampling is done with inclined RC drilling using one metre samples. In the small open cuts at Rothsay blasthole sampling was successfully used. Underground sampling for gold and copper grades at Rothsay is done using chip sampling. At the Youanmi open pits both Ditchwitch Earthsawing and RC drilling are used.All assay data are interpreted on sections and plans using a customised SURPAC system. Reconciliations of the grade control predictions of tonnes and grade against initial ore reserves, mining production and milling results are carried out monthly.

Jan 1, 1990

The authors have done a very thorough job in analyzing the factors affecting turndown sulfur performance at Inland&apos;s No. 4 B.O.F. While many of the results are not unexpected, it is helpful I am sure to have quantified many of the relationships that the operators rely upon daily. On the other hand, however, the results shown for ladle skimming are very surprising. I do not doubt the statistical relationship shown but I feel, based on our experience at Youngstown, that some other parameter has been ignored in the data on ladle skimming. It was our experience that by skimming our hot metal transfer ladle we could reduce our lime consumption by eleven percent while obtaining sulfur removal comparable to that shown by the authors. I would like the authors comment of similar adjustments on the lime charge that were made on skimmed heats at Inland. If not, it would seem that one could gain more desulfurization in the B.O.F. by raising the hot metal manganese than by installing a skimmer. The author&apos;s state that no comparisons are valid between the data sets for the two time periods involved because of the difference in the consumption of No. 2 Bundles. I feel this in fact is one of the important conclusions to be drawn from the paper, as there seems to be approximately a 10-20 percent difference in percent of heats that are under 0.020 percent sulfur for similar conditions, which is an extremely important difference with today&apos;s demands for low sulfur. I would like the author&apos;s comments on the difference in the amount of 82 bundles consumed. Along this same line I was quite surprised by the relatively low number of heats that had a first turn down of 0.020 percent sulfur or less. Also rather disconcerting are the conditions necessary to achieve a first turn of 0.020 percent sulfur, 50 - 60 percent of the time, as required by today&apos;s specifications. It is a problem which we are well aware of, but the numbers are still shocking.

Jan 1, 1972

By John Howe Hall

The recently announced run of three years, nine months and eleven days made by a crucible steel melting furnace of the Columbia Tool Steel Co., which is claimed as a world&apos;s record, brings forcibly to our attention the great improvements that have been made in the design, construction and operation of the Siemens regenerative crucible melting furnace since its introduction in this country. Credit for this advance should be given to the furnace designer, the manufacturer of refractories, and the operators, of the furnaces, whose persistent efforts and intelligent co-operation in attacking the problem have resulted so satisfactorily. There are three factors that determine the life of a crucible furnace, or any other furnace for that matter: Design, nature of refractories, and conditions of operation (including the nature of steel melted); and to some extent these factors are interdependent. Thus, for instance, if a crucible furnace is to be operated single turn and allowed to cool off considerably at night, in order to save fuel, the use of clay-brick melting holes may be advisable, since silica brick is not well adapted to endure repeated heating and cooling. But the total life of a clay-brick melting hole is necessarily short. Again, if local conditions such as danger of flood make necessary the building of the furnace largely above ground, so that the radiation of heat is promoted, the cooling down of the furnace over the week ends, when no steel is melted, will be considerable—and the contraction of the furnace that results tends to wrack it to pieces. The character of the metal being melted affects the life of the furnace to a great extent. Low-carbon steels and steels made from iron and charcoal require higher temperatures and much longer melting time than high-carbon steel or steel made largely from scrap; the life of the furnace will be shorter, and the number of heats melted will be much less, when such materials are melted. The figures available, showing the life of furnaces, are for this reason especially not strictly comparative, since the variations in the steel melted undoubtedly affect the life to a greater or less extent. Probably, however, the method of handling is as important a factor

Jan 1, 1914

By S. Razi

Injection luminescence of single crystals of rare-earth-activated CdS was investigated. Crystals of CdS:Nd, CdS:Er, and CdS:Yb, grown by the vapor transport technique, were suitably etched and hetero-junctions of Cu2S-CdS were fabricated on one side of the CdS substrate by chemical reaction. The device was then heated to 200°C in an inert atmosphere for 5 min. Static V-I measurements show that at low voltages (V < 1 v) the current is controlled by the junction, while at higher voltages the bulk Properties of the CdS substrate effectively control the current. Because of the large thicknesses no negative resistance was found. Reverse breakdown voltage varied from 5 v, for junctions that were not heat-treated, to 100 v, for diodes that received the proper heat treatment. The rectification ratio, measured in the range of 2 to 10 v, varied from 300 to 3000. Capacitance- voltage measurements indicate a weak dependence of the junction capacity on applied voltage. The capacity was found to increase appreciably with room light illumination. The variation of capacitance with frequency is indicative of a p+-i-n structure. An open-circuit voltage of 0.4 v was measured under an illumination of 100 mw per sq cm. Under forward bias, the bluish-green edge emission characteristic of CdS was observed. No sharp rare earth emission line was observed, which is in contrast to our results using ZnS:Tb, where, under high-voltage excitation, the rare earth emission was dominat over the lattice emission. The absence of rare earth emission implies that either the nature of the rare earth ion is different at the het-erojunction than in the bulk or the probability of energy transfer to the rare earth ion is small. RARE earth elements are playing an increasingly important role in the Synthesis of materials for a variety of purposes, e.g., solid-state lasers, color television screens, and so forth. Interesting systems result when wide-band-gap photoconducting lattices are activated with rare earths. A study of the lumines-

Jan 1, 1969

By G. F. Comstock

A serious disagreement as to the effect of titanium on the hardenability of steel exists in published references to this subject. Kramer, Hafner and Toleman reported&apos; that acid-soluble titanium decreased creased the hardenability, with multiplying factors less than unity according to [ ] Grossmann&apos;s system for calculating hardenability from the composition. Crafts and Lamont, on the other hand, showed2 how titanium increased the hardenability, with multiplying factors up to nearly 1.7 for about o.&apos; per cent titanium, though reducing the hardenability with higher titanium. Their data, however, were obtained almost exclusively from steels containing more than 2.4 per cent manganese, and thus should be considered as applying mainly to manganese steels. Likewise, the results of Kramer, Hafner and, Toleman regarding titanium are subject to the limitation that although they eliminated the effect of the insoluble titanium compounds from their calculations, they did not make a similar correction for the carbon that was combined with titanium and therefore occurred in a similarly ineffective form. It is suggested by the literature referred to that titanium may have different effects on hardenability, depending on the mode of its occurrence in the steel. The different effects on strength, ductility, etc., have already been discussed by the author.3 In the present discussion some comparisons, on the basis of hardenability as revealed by the Jominy end-quench test, are given between three titanium and two non titanium steels heat-treated in the same ways, and between other titanium steels heat-treated in several different ways. COMPARISON OF PLAIN-CARBON, VANADIUM AND TITANIUM STEELS The five steels used for these experiments were commercially melted and rolled products received in the form of 1.5-in. rounds from three different mills. Their analyses are given in Table I. Steels 2, 3, and 4 are from the same basic electric heat, containing 0.009 per cent of phosphorus and the same amount of sulphur. They were made by, adding aluminum and low-carbon ferrotitanium to different ingots. No. I is a plain-carbon coarse-grained S.A.E. 1040 steel made by the basic open-hearth -process. No. 5

Jan 1, 1945

By J. Moore Samuel

Before the year 1909, no measurements of dust losses and flue gases had been made at the Copper Queen Reduction Works, at Douglas, Ariz. At that time the "unaccounted" loss of the smelter had reached a figure that drew attention to the possibility of large stack losses. The measurement of dust losses had not been studied much at that time, and estimates of dust losses, with a few exceptions, were the results of tests by what has been termed &apos;(chemical methods," that is, the aspiration and filtration through cotton, wool or some similar medium of a few liters of gas, the dust being weighed on a chemical balance, and the volume of gas computed from the volume of aspirator water. The possible error of this method is enormous, and the probable error much too large for reliable results. Since the object of these tests was to discover not only the extent of the dust losses, but also the possibility of profitably reducing them, it was decided that the method adopted must have the following characteristics: 1. The sample of gas taken for filtration must be representative of the whole volume of gas, that is to say, it must have the same dust content. This condition will be fulfilled in all cases if the gas sample is drawn off without change of rate of flow. Then it will contain the same proportion of entrained or suspended particles of dust as the original gas. In the case of flue gases which contain only fume, at a temperature above or near the sublimation point, this condition need not be adhered to since the fume will not behave as entrained particles, but more nearly as a true gas. Consequently the gas sample in this case only may be drawn off at any rate of flow. 2. The gas sample taken must be large enough (a) to yield sufficient dust to permit of accurate chemical and physical examination; (b) so that the ratio of the total volume of gas passing through the flue to the volume of gas sample taken shall not be too large.

Jan 1, 1917

By A. M. Elmahdy

An amphoteric collector was tested for dolomite removal from phosphate ore. The effects of some operating parameters and their significance on the flotation of dolomite were studied using statistically designed experiments. The parameters studied were impeller speed, pH and collector dosage. Analysis of the results showed that pH is the most significant parameter. Moreover, a concentrate containing 0.53% MgO and ~31.1% P2O5 with a recovery of ~ 90% can be achieved at optimum values of studied parameters, i.e., a pH of 12, an impeller speed of 1,000 rpm and a collector dosage of 2.5 kg/t.

Jan 1, 2007

By John J. Henn

An evaluation is presented for an ammonium sulfate leaching process designed to extract manganese from Cuyuna, Minn., and Aroostook, Maine, deposits. In this process the manganese and iron in the ore are reduced to MnO and Fe 3 0 4 in a shaft furnace; the reduced ore is then leached with ammonium sulfate solution forming soluble manganous sulfate while leaving most of the iron undissolved. After filtration, the manganese and some impurities are precipitated from solution as carbonates which are then pelletized and calcined to form a product composed mainly of Mn3O4. The plants are designed to produce 100 tons per day of manganese contained in a product that is suitable for the production of ferromanganese. A byproduct credit, together with the extra processing cost, is included for the Cuyuna ore processing plants because Fe2O3 may be recovered for use in blast furnaces. The estimated operating costs per ton of manganese, excluding income taxes and return on investment, are: [ ] The process with or without byproduct recovery, when treating Cuyuna or Aroostook ores, is not economically competitive with ores available at $71.43 per ton of contained manganese.

Jan 1, 1968