Effects of a proline solution cover on the geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of high-sulfur coal gangue

Batch experiments tively evaluate the inhibition were conducted to compara- effects and mechanisms of a low-concentration （1%） proline solution cover on the release of pollutants from high-sulfur coal gangue. High- sulfur coal gangue was continuously immersed in a proline solution and in deionized water （as a control treatment） for 540 days. The results showed that the coal gangue in the control treatment was oxidized and generated leachate with poor water qualities, i.e., the leachate exhibited lower pH values, higher redox potential values, higher pollutant concentrations （804^2-, Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn）, and high levels of acidophilic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. However, compared to the control treatment, the addition of the proline solution （1%） significantly improved the water quality of the leachate by significantly reducing the Eh values, the pollutant concentrations （804^2-, Fe^2＋, Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn）, and the activity of acidophilic sulfur-oxidiz- ing bacteria and by significantly increasing the pH value to neutral. The proline treatment significantly inhibited the oxidation of coal gangue and the release of pollutants, mainly by inhibiting the activity of acidophilic sulfur-ox- idizing bacteria and by altering the heavy metal fractions and the mineralogical characteristics. Therefore, in engi- neering practice, workers should consider using an envi- ronmental friendly aqueous proline solution cover to achieve the in-situ control of pollutant releases from coal gangue dumps.

Mineralogical Characteristics of Exsolved Spinel in the Panzhihua V-Ti Magnetite Deposit, Sichuan: Implications for the Mineralization Process

Spinel exsolution is widespread in titanomagnetite from the Fe-Ti oxide gabbro of the Panzhihua intrusion, Emeishan Large Igneous Province, SW China. However, little research has been conducted into the implications of patterns in the mineralogical characteristics of the spinel for spatial variation in the controls on the exsolution mechanism and, hence, the formation process of the ore deposit. This study selected the Lanjiahuoshan Ore Block in the Panzhihua V-Ti magnetite deposit to explore this issue, systematically studying exsolution textures in the titanomagnetite through petrographic observation and the integrated use of in-situ microanalysis. The results show that the exsolved spinel gradually becomes finer-grained and less abundant from the center to edge and the bottom to top of the ore bodies. Compositionally, there is an inverse correlation between the size of exsolved spinel grains and their Mg# value. In addition, there is compositional zonation in the spinel interiors, with a gradual increase in the Mg content and decrease in Fe content from the core to the rim. The analysis suggests that fractional crystallization of ferrotitanium magma with a high oxygen fugacity in a shallow magma chamber caused compositional differences in the primary magnetite solid solution in different parts of the Panzhihua intrusion. Additionally, the thermal evolution of the magnetite solid solution differed in different parts of orebody, bringing about variations in spinel development. Together, these effects resulted in spatial variation in the abundance, grain size, and morphology of spinel in different parts of the orebody and intrusion that follows an identifiable distribution law. Furthermore, the compositional zonation of exsolved spinels reflects the rapid growth of exsolution features in a high-temperature environment. Thus, the size, morphology, abundance, and composition of spinel exsolution features in titanomagnetite provide a valuable petrogenetic tool for estimating the maturity and formational environment of the deposit.

Mineralogical characteristics of polymetallic sulfides from the Deyin-1 hydrothermal field near 15°S, southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge

A seafloor hydrothermal field, named Deyin-1 later, near 15°S southern Mid-Atlantic Ridge（SMAR） was newly found during the 22 nd cruise carried out by the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research ＆ Development Association（COMRA）. Sulfide samples were collected at three stations from the hydrothermal field during the26 th cruise in 2012. In this paper, mineralogical characteristics of the sulfides were analyzed with optical microscope, X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscope and electron microprobe to study the crystallization sequence of minerals and the process of hydrothermal mineralization. According to the difference of the ore-forming metal elements, the sulfide samples can be divided into three types：（1） the Ferich sulfide, which contains mainly pyrite and chalcopyrite;（2） the Fe-Cu-rich sulfide consisting predominantly of pyrite, chalcopyrite and isocubanite, with lesser amount of sphalerite, marmatite and pyrrhotine; and（3） the Fe-Zn-rich sulfide dominated by pyrite, sphalerite and marmatite, with variable amounts of chalcopyrite, isocubanite, pyrrhotine, marcasite, galena and gratonite. Mineral precipitations in these sulfides are in the sequence of chalcopyrite（isocubanite and possible coarse pyrite）, fine pyrite,sphalerite（marmatite）, galena, gratonite and then the minerals out of the dissolution. Two morphologically distinct generations（Py-I and Py-II） of pyrite are identified in each of the samples; inclusions of marmatite tend to exist in the coarse pyrite crystals（Py-I）. Sphalerite in the Fe-Zn-rich sulfide is characterized by a＂chalcopyrite disease＂ phenomenon. Mineral paragenetic relationships and a wide range of chemical compositions suggest that the environment of hydrothermal mineralization was largely changing. By comparison, the Fe-rich sulfide was formed in a relatively stable environment with a high temperature, but the conditions for the formation of the Fe-Cu-rich sulfide were variable. The Fe-Zn-rich sulfide was precipitated during the hydrothermal venting at relatively low temperature.

Mineralogical Characteristics and its Prospecting Significance of Gold-Mercury Minerals in Davao Gold Placer in Mindanao Islands, Philippines

This paper has systematically researched mineral assemble and the characteristics of gold-mercury minerals in Davao Placer in Mindanao Islands, Philippines. The results show that reflection force of gold-mercury minerals has a strong-weak-strong of changes features as mercury＇s content in minerals increased. Otherwise their hardness of gold-mercury minerals reduced. While the hardness of gold-mercury minerals, which have isometric crystal structure, they are gradually become larger, the goldmalgam and r-Goldmalgamite just be found to exist as natural edge of gold-mercury mineral grains. Overall, mercury content is gradually reduced from the edge to the centre of gold-mercury minerals particles, but mercury-bearing in edge of the grains is lower than in the middle. Combination of the background of geological mineralization, this paper suggests that there are mantle-derived deposits such as Platinum, chromium in Philippines, which accompanied ultramafic-mafic magmation. It＇s most likely to found some large or extra large scale polymetallic deposits of gold and mercury, as well as coastal placers of gold, platinum, etc.

MINERALOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND CONTROL FACTORS OF SURFACE SEDIMENTS IN THE SEA AREA NORTHWEST OF THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA

Analysis and study of clastic and clay minerals of surface sediments and their chemical composition in the sea area northwest of the Antarctic Peninsula enable the authors to divide this area basically into four mineralogical provinces : (1) the mineral ogical province of coast and island shelf of the Southern Shetland Islands, (2) the mineral ogical province of the eastern Bransfield Strait, (3) the mineral ogical province of the western Bransfield Strait, and (4) the mineral ogical province of the western Antarctic Peninsula. Finally, the relationships between the mineral distribution and geologic ,structure, material sources, glaciers, currents, and environments are briefly described.

MINERALOGICAL FEATURES OF ULTRAMAFIC HYPOXENOLITHS IN ALKALI-RICH PORPHYRY

Ultramafic hypoxenoliths found in the alkali-rich porphyry in the Liuhe Village, Heqing, Yunnan, China, are of great significance in understanding the origin and evolution of the porphyry. This paper discusses the mineralogical features of the hypoxenoliths. It shows that the xenoliths are characterized by the upper mantle rocks modified to certain extent by the enriched mantle fluid metasomatism in the mantle environment, with the enriched mantle property of low-degree partial melting. This constitutes the important mineralogical evidence for the petrogenesis and mineralization of alkali-rich porphyry.

Geotechnical and Mineralogical Properties of the Recently Exposed Black Mud Deposits along the Northeastern Shore of the Dead Sea

Along the recently evacuated shores of the retreating Dead Sea black mud deposits have been exposed and hence subjected to head ward erosion resulting in landslides and land collapses threatening herewith the infrastructure in the area. The geotechnical and mineralogical characterization of the black mud show the presence of a variety of clays including smectite, kaolinite, illite, montmorollinite and muscovite with a natural water content near the liquid limit. These geotechnical and mineralogical properties indicate that the mud is prone to rapid erosion and sliding, which actually hit the area and have until now caused damages and degrading topography and geology in the area. The study also refers the origin of the black mud and its organic content to the erosion and deposition of Upper Cretaceous-Tertiary oil shale deposits formerly covering the whole surrounding areas of the Dead Sea. The study suggests engineering solutions to the geologic degradation processes in the area, before further damage to the infrastructure takes place.

Investigations on mineralogical characteristics of rare earth minerals in Bayan Obo tailings during the roasting process

This paper focused on the investigation of the mineralogical characteristics of rare earth minerals from Bayan Obo tailings during the roasting process in the presence of coal,Ca（OH）_2 and NaOH.Roasting experiments and leaching experiments were carried out to study the decomposition of rare earth minerals.The results indicated that bastnaesite and monazite could be completely decomposed at 650 ℃ and the leaching ratio of rare earths could reach 89.78%.The reaction mechanisms of bastnaesite and monazite at 650 ℃were analyzed.For bastnaesite,both the outer layer decomposition and inner core decomposition occurred simultaneously during the roasting.However,monazite was decomposed in a spatial sequence starting from the outer layer and proceeding to the inner core.

Enrichment and separation of iron minerals in gibbsitic bauxite residue based on reductive Bayer digestion

The mineralogical characteristics of three kinds of gibbsitic high-iron bauxite and the effects of various digestion conditions on the enrichment and separation of iron minerals were investigated. The results show that adding an appropriate organic reductant such as glycerol can promote the digestion of concomitant diaspore, boehmite and alumogoethite as well as the conversion of goethite to hematite in the reductive Bayer digestion. Processing Bauxite A with A/S of 25.41 can directly produce qualified iron concentrates(TFe>56%) by the reductive Bayer digestion, and thus realize the zero red mud discharge. For Bauxite B and Bauxite C with A/S of 7.82 and 3.35, the iron recoveries of 65.13% and 79.13% can be achieved with the corresponding TFe of 52.05% and 50.16% in the iron concentrates by gravity separation, respectively, resulting in the red mud discharge reduction of ~50% or above.

The effect of Fe-Mn minerals and seawater interface and enrich-ment mechanism of ore-forming elements of polymetallic crusts and nodules from the South China Sea

Ferromanganese crusts and nodules are important submarine mineral resources that contain various metal elements with significant economic value. In this study, polymetallic crusts and nodules obtained from the South China Sea （SCS） were determined by using X-ray power diffraction （XRD）, Raman spectroscopy （RS）, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FTIR）, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS） to systematically investigate and analyze the mineralogical and spectral characteristics of the Fe-Mn minerals. XRD measurements revealed that the SCS polymetallic crusts and nodules were composed of vernadite, quartz, and plagioclase. The nodules also contained todorokite. The Fe-phase minerals of the SCS crusts and nodules were composed of amorphous Fe oxide/hydroxide, and the Mn- and Fe-phases minerals exhibited relatively poor degrees of crystallization. FTIR results showed that the Fe-Mn minerals in the crusts and nodules included a large number of surface hydroxyl groups. These surface hydroxyl groups contained protons that could provide reactive sites for complexation of ore-forming elements in seawater. XPS results indicated that the surfaces of the Fe-Mn minerals mainly contained Fe, Mn, and O. Fe was present in the trivalent oxidation state, while Mn, which may contain several bivalent oxidation state, was present in the tetravalent and trivalent oxidation states. The SCS polymetallic crusts and nodules were compared with Pacific seamount crusts, and results showed that the surface hydroxyl （-OH） groups of the SCS crusts and nodules numbered more than the lattice oxygen （O^2-）. But the lattice oxygen of Pacific seamount crusts numbered more than the surface hydroxyl groups. This characteristic indicated that the degree of crystallization of Fe-Mn minerals from the Pacific Ocean was higher than that of minerals from the South China Sea. Comprehensive studies showed that ore-forming elements in the interface between seawater and the Fe-Mn minerals in the submarine ferromanganese crusts and nodules employed the following enrichment mechanisms： （1） the metal ion complexed with the surface hydroxyl of Fe-Mn minerals to form hydroxyl complexes, which were connected by coordination bonds or stable inner-sphere complexes that exchanged protons on the mineral surfaces; （2） the charged surfaces of the minerals and metal cations formed outer-sphere complexes, which made up the electrostatic double layer, through electrostatic adsorption; and （3） the metal cations isomorphously exchanged the Mn and Fe ions of the mineral lattice structure.

Volcanic Event Layers——A Marker Bed of Correlation of Coal Measures

Upper Carboniferous-Lower Permian volcanic event deposits from two cross sections in Nanpiao, Liaoning Province, and the Daqing Mountains, Inner Mongolia, were examined by systematic rock and mineral identification, differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and trace element and rare earth element quantitative analysis. According to the results, twelve sequences of volcanic event deposits have been distinguished from bottom to top, including 34–39 volcanic event layers. As these layers each have their own distinctive petrological, mineralogical and geochemical characteristics and were derived from the same source, they provide new evidence for further ascertaining the distribution characteristics of volcanic event deposits on the northern margin of the North China plate and carrying out the stratigraphic correlation using volcanic event layers as marker beds.

Analysis of Vanadium-Bearing Titanomagnetite Sintering Process by Dissection of Sintering Bed

Many problems appear in the sintering process of vanadium-bearing titanomagnetite, such as high energy consumption and low productivity; simer quality is also very poor for its low tumble strength and high reduction deg- radation. Sinter productivity and quality are dominated by bed permeability and mineralogy structure, which are highly influenced by the thermal state of sintering bed, so the sintering process of titanomagnetite is researched by bed dissection in this work. Temperature evolution curves of sinter materials were measured, and the results show that melting duration, peak temperature duration and sintering temperature of different layers differ greatly from each other; flame front speed and vertical sintering speed of bed lower region are much smaller than those of bed up- per region. Simultaneously, sinter samples were collected from different layers, and their mineralogy characteristics are analyzed; sinters from bed lower region have poor mineralogy structure, and the amounts of perovskite and dieM- cium silicate increase intensively, which are bad for sinter strength and reduction degradation property. Measures are proposed to improve the quality and productivity of titanomagnetite sinter.

A quantitative investigation on consolidation of titanium-containing pellets during roasting process

The measurement method and quantitative indexes of iron ore consolidation characteristic temperature(CCT)during roasting,including consolidation starting temperature,highest consolidation rate temperature,and consolidation termination temperature,were improved based on previous research.The mineral properties of V-Ti magnetite(Panzhihua)were analyzed,and the CCT of V-Ti magnetite was calculated.To investigate the effect of mineral types on CCT,a series of trials were carried out by using various ores,including high-grade magnetite ore,high silicon iron ore,and V-Ti magnetite ore.The greatest shrinkage of V-Ti magnetite was 6.7%,the consolidation starting temperature was 991℃,and the termination temperature was 1384℃.The results of X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the V-Ti magnetite ore was composed of titanomagnetite,peridotite,and other minerals,which is more complicated than conventional magnetite.As a result,the temperature at the maximum rate of consolidation and the temperature at the termination of consolidation are the greatest.FeTiO_(3) and MgFe_(2)O_(4) in V-Ti magnetite may inhibit the creation of sinter necks between hematite particles.Liquid phase occurs inside the pellet when the temperature surpasses 1250℃,which may accelerate particle growth and the formation of a sintering neck within the pellets.