The capabilities and opportunities of the application of automated mineralogy for the characterization of lithium-bearing zinnwaldite-micas are critically assessed. Samples of a crushed greisen-type ore comprising mos...The capabilities and opportunities of the application of automated mineralogy for the characterization of lithium-bearing zinnwaldite-micas are critically assessed. Samples of a crushed greisen-type ore comprising mostly of quartz, topaz and zinnwaldite (Li-rich mica) were exposed to further comminution by cone crusher and high voltage pulse power fragmentation. Product properties were analyzed by using a Mineral Liberation Analyser (MLA) and the obtained mineralogical and mineral processing relevant parameters were carefully evaluated with special focus on the characteristics of zinnwaldite. The results illustrate that both samples contain a significant quantity of very fine particles that are products of comminution. The modal mineralogy in the different sieve fractions is characterized by the accumulation of minerals of low hardness in the finest fraction and the enrichment of topaz, having a high hardness, in the somewhat larger fractions. Based on the results of mineral association data for zinnwaldite, a displacement of the muscovite-quartz ratio, in comparison to the results of modal mineralogy, was observed by indicating good quartz-zinnwaldite boundary breakage and weak muscovite-zinnwaldite breakage. Liberation as well as mineral grade recovery curves indicate that fraction 1000 to +500 μm is most suitable for beneficiation. The results of this study demonstrate that SEM-based image analysis, such as MLA, can effectively be used to investigate and evaluate phyllosilicate minerals in a fast and precise way. It is shown that the results of MLA investigations, such as modal mineralogy, are in good agreement with other analytical methods such as quantitative X-ray powder diffraction.展开更多
As ore grades constantly decline,more copper tailings,which still contain a considerable amount of unrecovered copper,are expected to be produced as a byproduct of froth flotation.This research reveals the occurrence ...As ore grades constantly decline,more copper tailings,which still contain a considerable amount of unrecovered copper,are expected to be produced as a byproduct of froth flotation.This research reveals the occurrence mechanism of copper minerals in typical copper sulfide tailings using quantitative mineral liberation analysis(MLA)integrated with scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectroscopy(SEM–EDS).A comprehensive mineralogical characterization was carried out,and the results showed that almost all copper minerals were highly disseminated within coarse gangue particles,except for 9.2wt%chalcopyrite that occurred in the 160–180μm size fraction.The predominant copper-bearing mineral was chalcopyrite,which was closely intergrown with orthoclase and muscovite rather than quartz.The flotation tailings sample still contained 3.28wt%liberated chalcopyrite and 3.13wt%liberated bornite because of their extremely fine granularity.The SEM–EDS analysis further demonstrated that copper minerals mainly occurred as fine dispersed and fully enclosed structures in gangue minerals.The information obtained from this research could offer useful references for recovering residual copper from flotation tailings.展开更多
Ore grades are currently declining and mines are increasingly required to operate more efficiently in order to save costs and conserve resources. As a result, automated procedures to control and measure process effici...Ore grades are currently declining and mines are increasingly required to operate more efficiently in order to save costs and conserve resources. As a result, automated procedures to control and measure process efficiency have become popular: The demand for sustainable mining and metals processing is globally increasing. Mineral Liberation Analysis is a well established technique to analyse and optimize mining processes and its significance to process mineralogy studies and mineral & metallurgical processing has been widely reported. Dedicated systems consisting of an optimized scanning electron microscopes (SEM) and usually several X-ray detectors are an established solution. With the advent of large area SDDs (Silicon drift detector) and progress in stage automation on conventional SEMs, the speed of X-Ray acquisition is no longer a limiting factor. However, until now, the particle analysis packages on commercially available systems do not lend themselves to Mineral Liberation Analysis without significant modification. INCAMineral is a new solution for mineral liberation analysis which runs on conventional SEMs equipped with large area SDDs.展开更多
We describe a novel lab based X-ray computed tomography system based on the architecture of X-ray Microscopes (XRM) used in synchrotron radiation facilities to be adapted for mineral processing and mineral liberation ...We describe a novel lab based X-ray computed tomography system based on the architecture of X-ray Microscopes (XRM) used in synchrotron radiation facilities to be adapted for mineral processing and mineral liberation analysis. As this is a tomographic technique performed with an XRM, it is non-destructive and does not require complex preparation of polished sections typical of SEM-EDS techniques (such as MLA and QEMSCAN). It complements these existing techniques by providing 3D information and mineral liberation of multi-phase particles with much larger sample volume statistics but at a fraction of the time. In several applications, the technique is superior. These include the characterization of tailing loss in precious minerals; the characterization of porosity, particle size distribution, crack and pore network analysis during comminution, heap leaching and for texture and exposure/lock class analysis for floatation.展开更多
矿产资源高效综合利用是目前全球矿业发展的主要方向。传统的光学显微镜和扫描电镜等技术在查明许多低品位矿石的元素赋存状态等方面具有局限性,且无法提供定量化的矿物学信息,制约了对这些金属矿石选矿工艺的提升。近年来,基于扫描电镜...矿产资源高效综合利用是目前全球矿业发展的主要方向。传统的光学显微镜和扫描电镜等技术在查明许多低品位矿石的元素赋存状态等方面具有局限性,且无法提供定量化的矿物学信息,制约了对这些金属矿石选矿工艺的提升。近年来,基于扫描电镜和X射线能谱仪的矿物自动定量分析系统越来越多地应用到复杂矿石和工艺矿物学的研究中。为了进一步丰富和拓展该类系统在工艺矿物学领域的应用研究,本文利用矿物自动定量分析系统TIMA(TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyzer)对中国某矿山低品位铜矿渣样品进行矿物学测试分析,展示其在提取多种工艺矿物学参数研究中的具体应用。分析结果表明:该铜矿渣中铜元素含量(0.08%)很低,主要赋存在黄铜矿中,该矿物含量为0.21%;脉石矿物含有大量石英(47.46%)、白云母(10.10%)和方解石(9.88%)等;黄铜矿连生关系复杂,主要以连生体形式呈不规则粒状零散分布在石英和方解石等脉石矿物中,粒度小且分布极不均匀,其中11~76μm颗粒占比较大;解离度低于30%的黄铜矿颗粒质量占全部的85%左右,整体解离度较低,因而需要进一步磨矿来提升黄铜矿回收率。以上研究表明,对于有用矿物含量低、粒度细小且嵌布关系复杂的矿石样品,包括TIMA在内的矿物分析系统能够提供快速、定量、全面且准确的工艺矿物学参数信息,有利于优化选冶流程,在提高矿产资源的综合利用方面具有非常广阔的应用前景。展开更多
A detailed characterization of an iron oxy/hydroxide(gossan type) bearing refractory gold/silver ore was performed with a new diagnostic approach for the development of a pretreatment process prior to cyanide leaching...A detailed characterization of an iron oxy/hydroxide(gossan type) bearing refractory gold/silver ore was performed with a new diagnostic approach for the development of a pretreatment process prior to cyanide leaching. Gold was observed to be present as native and electrum(6-24 μm in size) and associated with limonite, goethite and lepidocrocite within calcite and quartz matrix. Mineral liberation analysis(MLA) showed that electrum is found as free grains and in association with beudantite, limonite/goethite and quartz. Silver was mainly present as acanthite(Ag2S) and electrum and as inclusions within beudantite phase in the ore. The cyanide leaching tests showed that the extractions of gold and silver from the ore(d80: 50 μm) were limited to 76% and 23%, respectively, over a leaching period of 24 h. Diagnostic leaching tests coupled with the detailed mineralogical analysis of the ore suggest that the refractory gold and silver are mainly associated within iron oxide mineral phases such as limonite/goethite and jarosite-beudantite, which can be decomposed in alkaline solutions. Based on these characterizations, alkaline pretreatment of ore in potassium hydroxide solution was performed prior to cyanidation, which improved significantly the extraction of silver and gold up to 87% Ag and 90% Au. These findings suggest that alkaline leaching can be used as a new diagnostic approach to characterize the refractoriness of iron oxy/hydroxide bearing gold/silver ore and as a pretreatment method to overcome the refractoriness.展开更多
文摘The capabilities and opportunities of the application of automated mineralogy for the characterization of lithium-bearing zinnwaldite-micas are critically assessed. Samples of a crushed greisen-type ore comprising mostly of quartz, topaz and zinnwaldite (Li-rich mica) were exposed to further comminution by cone crusher and high voltage pulse power fragmentation. Product properties were analyzed by using a Mineral Liberation Analyser (MLA) and the obtained mineralogical and mineral processing relevant parameters were carefully evaluated with special focus on the characteristics of zinnwaldite. The results illustrate that both samples contain a significant quantity of very fine particles that are products of comminution. The modal mineralogy in the different sieve fractions is characterized by the accumulation of minerals of low hardness in the finest fraction and the enrichment of topaz, having a high hardness, in the somewhat larger fractions. Based on the results of mineral association data for zinnwaldite, a displacement of the muscovite-quartz ratio, in comparison to the results of modal mineralogy, was observed by indicating good quartz-zinnwaldite boundary breakage and weak muscovite-zinnwaldite breakage. Liberation as well as mineral grade recovery curves indicate that fraction 1000 to +500 μm is most suitable for beneficiation. The results of this study demonstrate that SEM-based image analysis, such as MLA, can effectively be used to investigate and evaluate phyllosilicate minerals in a fast and precise way. It is shown that the results of MLA investigations, such as modal mineralogy, are in good agreement with other analytical methods such as quantitative X-ray powder diffraction.
基金This work was financially supported by a grant from Nonferrous Corporation Africa Mining Public Limited Company and National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51804020).
文摘As ore grades constantly decline,more copper tailings,which still contain a considerable amount of unrecovered copper,are expected to be produced as a byproduct of froth flotation.This research reveals the occurrence mechanism of copper minerals in typical copper sulfide tailings using quantitative mineral liberation analysis(MLA)integrated with scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive spectroscopy(SEM–EDS).A comprehensive mineralogical characterization was carried out,and the results showed that almost all copper minerals were highly disseminated within coarse gangue particles,except for 9.2wt%chalcopyrite that occurred in the 160–180μm size fraction.The predominant copper-bearing mineral was chalcopyrite,which was closely intergrown with orthoclase and muscovite rather than quartz.The flotation tailings sample still contained 3.28wt%liberated chalcopyrite and 3.13wt%liberated bornite because of their extremely fine granularity.The SEM–EDS analysis further demonstrated that copper minerals mainly occurred as fine dispersed and fully enclosed structures in gangue minerals.The information obtained from this research could offer useful references for recovering residual copper from flotation tailings.
文摘Ore grades are currently declining and mines are increasingly required to operate more efficiently in order to save costs and conserve resources. As a result, automated procedures to control and measure process efficiency have become popular: The demand for sustainable mining and metals processing is globally increasing. Mineral Liberation Analysis is a well established technique to analyse and optimize mining processes and its significance to process mineralogy studies and mineral & metallurgical processing has been widely reported. Dedicated systems consisting of an optimized scanning electron microscopes (SEM) and usually several X-ray detectors are an established solution. With the advent of large area SDDs (Silicon drift detector) and progress in stage automation on conventional SEMs, the speed of X-Ray acquisition is no longer a limiting factor. However, until now, the particle analysis packages on commercially available systems do not lend themselves to Mineral Liberation Analysis without significant modification. INCAMineral is a new solution for mineral liberation analysis which runs on conventional SEMs equipped with large area SDDs.
文摘We describe a novel lab based X-ray computed tomography system based on the architecture of X-ray Microscopes (XRM) used in synchrotron radiation facilities to be adapted for mineral processing and mineral liberation analysis. As this is a tomographic technique performed with an XRM, it is non-destructive and does not require complex preparation of polished sections typical of SEM-EDS techniques (such as MLA and QEMSCAN). It complements these existing techniques by providing 3D information and mineral liberation of multi-phase particles with much larger sample volume statistics but at a fraction of the time. In several applications, the technique is superior. These include the characterization of tailing loss in precious minerals; the characterization of porosity, particle size distribution, crack and pore network analysis during comminution, heap leaching and for texture and exposure/lock class analysis for floatation.
文摘矿产资源高效综合利用是目前全球矿业发展的主要方向。传统的光学显微镜和扫描电镜等技术在查明许多低品位矿石的元素赋存状态等方面具有局限性,且无法提供定量化的矿物学信息,制约了对这些金属矿石选矿工艺的提升。近年来,基于扫描电镜和X射线能谱仪的矿物自动定量分析系统越来越多地应用到复杂矿石和工艺矿物学的研究中。为了进一步丰富和拓展该类系统在工艺矿物学领域的应用研究,本文利用矿物自动定量分析系统TIMA(TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyzer)对中国某矿山低品位铜矿渣样品进行矿物学测试分析,展示其在提取多种工艺矿物学参数研究中的具体应用。分析结果表明:该铜矿渣中铜元素含量(0.08%)很低,主要赋存在黄铜矿中,该矿物含量为0.21%;脉石矿物含有大量石英(47.46%)、白云母(10.10%)和方解石(9.88%)等;黄铜矿连生关系复杂,主要以连生体形式呈不规则粒状零散分布在石英和方解石等脉石矿物中,粒度小且分布极不均匀,其中11~76μm颗粒占比较大;解离度低于30%的黄铜矿颗粒质量占全部的85%左右,整体解离度较低,因而需要进一步磨矿来提升黄铜矿回收率。以上研究表明,对于有用矿物含量低、粒度细小且嵌布关系复杂的矿石样品,包括TIMA在内的矿物分析系统能够提供快速、定量、全面且准确的工艺矿物学参数信息,有利于优化选冶流程,在提高矿产资源的综合利用方面具有非常广阔的应用前景。
基金Project(8300)supported by the Research Foundation of Karadeniz Technical University,Turkey
文摘A detailed characterization of an iron oxy/hydroxide(gossan type) bearing refractory gold/silver ore was performed with a new diagnostic approach for the development of a pretreatment process prior to cyanide leaching. Gold was observed to be present as native and electrum(6-24 μm in size) and associated with limonite, goethite and lepidocrocite within calcite and quartz matrix. Mineral liberation analysis(MLA) showed that electrum is found as free grains and in association with beudantite, limonite/goethite and quartz. Silver was mainly present as acanthite(Ag2S) and electrum and as inclusions within beudantite phase in the ore. The cyanide leaching tests showed that the extractions of gold and silver from the ore(d80: 50 μm) were limited to 76% and 23%, respectively, over a leaching period of 24 h. Diagnostic leaching tests coupled with the detailed mineralogical analysis of the ore suggest that the refractory gold and silver are mainly associated within iron oxide mineral phases such as limonite/goethite and jarosite-beudantite, which can be decomposed in alkaline solutions. Based on these characterizations, alkaline pretreatment of ore in potassium hydroxide solution was performed prior to cyanidation, which improved significantly the extraction of silver and gold up to 87% Ag and 90% Au. These findings suggest that alkaline leaching can be used as a new diagnostic approach to characterize the refractoriness of iron oxy/hydroxide bearing gold/silver ore and as a pretreatment method to overcome the refractoriness.
