Mineral Processing

Overview
Mankind has successfully extracted metals from ore for thousands of years.
This topic provides an overview of the typical processing activities which
may be found on mine sites today.

Very few mines extract products directly from excavations for sale without
some form of processing. This may include comminution, milling, refining
and smelting.

This Mineral Processing topic covers the following chapters:

1. Context – when and where is processing required

2. Minerals and their Classification
3. Liberating Disseminated and Bulk Ores
4. Comminution
5. Milling
6. Separation and Concentration
7. Refining and Smelting
8. Tailings Management
9. Processing Recovery

1. Context – When and where is processing required

Ore coming out of a mine before any processing is called Run-of-mine
(ROM) ore. Underground mines sometimes carry out crushing underground
for ease of handling and to improve the load factors of conveyances; in
these cases, the crushed product is considered ROM.

 Coal may be sold with minimal processing. Normally the product is

screened and washed prior to shipping.
 Dimension Stone is another example of a mineral which may need no
processing. Large blocks from the mine are loaded on trucks and
despatched as mined.
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  Aggregate quarries crush their product, sort it into different sizes and
sell it.

Most mines extract ore containing a very low concentration of valuable

product and processing is required to achieve a saleable concentration.
Mineral processing is also called Ore Dressing or, more formally, Extractive
Metallurgy.

Metallurgists at mines manage the process of extracting saleable products

from ROM ore, e.g. metals, gemstones.

The place where mineral processing is carried out at a mine is called the
Plant. At gold mines it is often called the Reduction Plant or reduction
works; at other metal mines, it may be called the Concentrator.

2. Minerals and their classification

One definition is “a solid, naturally-occurring inorganic substance with a
specific chemical composition and a regular molecular structure.”

More simply, “any natural, valuable substance extracted from the earth”
(with the exception of water).

Many different definitions are used in the minerals laws of various countries.
For legal purposes, some countries include and some exclude hydrocarbons
(oil & natural gas) and coal. Construction materials such as aggregate and
sand are also excluded in some minerals laws.

There are a variety of ways of classifying minerals. The table below shows
some common examples.

CLASSFICIATION
EXAMPLES
OF MINERAL
Iron (also called FERROUS METALS), copper,
Base metals
nickel, chromium
Precious metals Gold, silver, platinum group elements (PGEs)
Gemstones Emerald, ruby, sapphire, diamond
Industrial minerals Phosphate, gypsum, limestone
Construction Sand, gravel
materials
Dimension stone Marble, limestone, granite, travertine
Rare earth minerals Lanthanum, cerium, neodymium

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Coal Lignite, anthracite, bituminous
Hydrocarbons Oil, natural gas

3. Liberating disseminated and bulk ores

Some metallic ores, such as iron, occur with high concentrations of the
desired metal. Iron orebodies are often so large that little contained waste
is mined and processing of ore may be confined to washing and screening
before shipping to a steelworks.

Chromite may also be regarded as a bulk ore. If extracted cleanly, it may be

sent directly to a smelter to produce ferrochrome. However, orebodies are
often irregular, with waste inclusions, and processing at-mine is required to
remove the waste material. Most other metallic ores occur in disseminated
form, where a very low concentration of one or more valuable metals occur
intimately mixed in a matrix of minerals of no value. This waste material is
called Gangue. The valuable minerals must be extracted from the gangue,
which is then discarded as Tailings.

The ore in this example contains about 3% valuable minerals, which

metallurgists call simply Mineral. If the minerals themselves have, say, a
copper content of 30%, then the grade of ore would be about 0.9% Cu.

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The ore minerals in the matrix must be liberated from the gangue. This
requires crushing and grinding the ore down to a particle size where discrete
particles consist approximately of either pure mineral or pure gangue, which
can then be separated by various means. Collecting mineral with minimum
gangue content is called Concentrating and the product is Concentrate.

4. Comminution
Reduction of particle size starts in the mine with drilling and blasting. In
addition to secondary blasting,
oversize rocks may be further
reduced in size by hammers,
manually in ASM and with Pneumatic
Breakers in larger mines.

The combined process of crushing

and then grinding is called
Comminution.

The objectives of particle size reduction are to facilitate handling, liberate

mineral from gangue and to increase the surface area of mineral particles
for exposure to chemical processes.

The most common types of crushers fall into two groups: Jaw Crushers
which have a reciprocating jaw crushing rock against a fixed jaw, and
rotating crushers such as Gyratory and Cone Crushers. Crushing may be
carried out in a single stage or in two, three or four stages. Crushing circuits
are designed with screens which usually vibrate to pass the crushed

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material over the screen deck. Oversize material proceeds to further
crushing stages or is returned to an earlier stage.

5. Milling
Crushing typically takes Run-
of-Mine (ROM) ore down to
particle sizes ranging from
6mm to 25mm, depending on
the type of processes to
follow.

Crushed ore is fed into Mills in

which the ore is mixed with water and may be ground down to a particle
size, in the case of gold and copper, of about 75 microns (0.075mm). The
fine, powdered ore emerges from the mills mixed with water in a thin, wet
paste called Pulp or Slurry. In the ASM sector, Stamp Mills are still in
common use, especially in gold mining, but the more efficient and modern
machines in widespread use are Tumbling Mills, the most common being
Ball Mills, large rotating cylinders in which steel balls are loaded and
cascade inside the mill as it rotates, effecting grinding. Rod Mills are less
common and use steel rods instead of balls, whilst Autogenous mills use no
artificial Grinding Media but rely on the action of rock-on-rock.
Semiautogenous mills are favoured in modern practice on large mines, using
a mixture of balls and rock-on-rock. They are recognisable as having a very
large diameter in relation to length, in contrast with ball mills, whose length
exceeds diameter.

Milling circuits may be multi-stage and may also be “open” or “closed.” In

the latter case, oversize material is fed back for re-grinding. Classification is
the process of separating fine particles from coarse ones which require
further grinding. In milling, classification is most commonly carried out with
Hydroclones, commonly referred to at mines as just Cyclones. Some small-
scale mines still use older types of classifier such as Drag or Rake classifiers
and Spiral or Screw classifiers.

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In the crushing stages, ore is moved by conveyors, whilst pulp is pumped,
usually by single-stage centrifugal pumps. All equipment used for handling,
crushing and milling ore is subject to intensive wear and is usually fitted
with Liners, commonly made of manganese steel and designed for relative
ease of removal and replacement.

6. Separation and concentration

Following milling, the ore is subjected to different processes according to its
nature. Pulp may require to be thickened ahead of these processes in large
tanks called Thickeners, in which the solid component is allowed to settle
and is raked towards the centre by large, rotating rakes while relatively clear
water overflows into a peripheral drain or Launder. Tailings are similarly
thickened before being pumped to the tailings dam. Thickeners and cyclones
can be used for
thickening pulp and for
recovering water.

Four main types of

processes are used
following milling:

 Gravity
 Flotation
 Chemical leaching
 Magnetic and electrostatic

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Gravity

Gravity Separation is used to separate mineral and gangue with a large

difference in their Specific Gravities. Chromite, tin, tantalite and various
heavy metals are amenable to this principle. Some gold ores contain Free
Gold which can be recovered by gravity separation and this is the traditional
method used in artisanal gold mining. Panning and the traditional sluice box
are examples of gravity separation.

Shaking Tables such as the well-known James table are fitted with ridges
similar to the riffles in a sluice box. Milled ore is washed over the vibrating
table and the desired heavy mineral is trapped by the ridges and flows along
them to a collection launder whilst gangue flows over them. Belt
applications are used similarly. Spirals are a very effective, energy and
water-efficient means of recovering minerals such as chromite, with the
capability to provide high capacity in a small plant area.

The Knelson Concentrator has

become popular in extraction of
free gold in all sectors of the
industry from small to large.
These machines are efficient and
relatively cheap. They have a
rotating drum with internal ridges
in which heavy material is
trapped.

Dense Media Separation (DMS) is an enhancement of gravity situation in

which ore is fed into a solution with a density between those of the mineral
and gangue, respectively, with one product rising toward the surface for
collection and the other being discharged at the bottom of the vessel. Coal
and chromite are often collected by this means.

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The JIG uses a vertical, pulsating flow of water in similar manner.

Flotation

Flotation is used, mainly in large-scale mining, to produce concentrates of

copper, nickel, cobalt and a
number of other metals. More
correctly called “froth
flotation,” the process uses a
cocktail of chemicals called
Reagents, mixed with the pulp
in tanks. Collector is an
organic compound which
adheres to the desired mineral
and makes it hydrophobic, i.e.
unable to adhere to water,
causing it to adhere instead to
air bubbles. Frother is another
reagent, used to help create
large, stable bubbles.

Depressant adheres to the gangue minerals, causing them to repel the air
bubbles and remain in water, sinking to the bottom. The process takes place
in large vessels called Flotation Cells, which were traditionally rectangular
but are now almost always circular. Pulp, mixed with these and other, less
important reagents, is pumped through a Bank of cells, and the mineral-
enriched bubbles are collected in launders at the top and flow away as
concentrate. The cells are agitated with a rotating impellor and sometimes
with compressed air.

Concentrate is collected in banks of cells in Roughing and Scavenging

stages. Tailings from these banks are fed successively for repeat flotation in
downstream banks before being pumped to final tailings for thickening and
disposal on a tailings dam. Flotation concentrate might go to further banks
called Cleaners. Final concentrate is thickened in similar fashion to tailings
and is then usually dried in a vacuum filter to reduce moisture content.

Flotation circuits can be complex and may involve intermediate regrinding in

mills. It should be noted that the reagents used are all organic chemicals
with a composition similar to soap. They are inert and have little
environmental impact. Mines strive to recycle all plant water and this

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prevents discharge of chemicals to the environment as well as reducing
consumption of both water and reagents.

Chemical Leaching

Most of the world’s gold output is recovered by

Chemical Leaching using potassium cyanide (KCN).
The comminution process is the same as for
flotation but the pulp is then pumped into tanks
where a cyanide solution is introduced. Cyanide is
able to dissolve gold which is then precipitated into activated carbon, from
which it is coated onto steel wool in an electrolytic process called
Electrowinning. It is finally smelted to produce pure gold, one of the few
metals produced in almost totally pure form at a mine. Bullion from mines is
further refined, usually at central facilities, to achieve absolute purity.
Barren pulp, from which the gold has been removed, is pumped as tailings
to a dam for storage.

In some cases, ROM ore or partially crushed ore is dumped on large

stockpiles for Heap Leaching on a leach pad. Cyanide solution is sprayed
onto these dumps and percolates through the ore, leaching out the gold.
Pregnant Solution containing the gold is collected by a membrane
underneath the pile and pumped to a carbon plant. Carbon can be re-
activated by heating in a furnace and is recycled.

Some older or small-scale reduction plants still use the Merrill-Crowe

process in which gold is precipitated onto zinc instead of carbon.

Although cyanide is a deadly poison, it is safely used daily on a massive

scale, worldwide. Public concern about environmental aspects is largely
unjustified as, by the time pulp is deposited into a tailings dam, the cyanide
is neutralised. The use of mercury in the artisanal sector, a traditional
recovery method still prevalent in some operations, is of much greater
concern. Globally, gold mining uses only about 13% of the cyanide consumed
in all industries.

Chemical leaching may be applied to other minerals, particularly oxide

copper ore, when sulphuric acid (H2SO4) is used as the solvent, sometimes
also in a heap-leaching configuration.

Bacterial Leaching is a relatively new process, in which traditional chemicals

are replaced by bacteria cultures which effectively convert sulphide ores
into oxides for electrowinning.
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Magnetic and Electrostatic

Magnetic and Electrostatic Precipitators are sometimes used to recover

minerals with suitable physical properties but this is of relatively minor
importance.

A mine plant is dependent on intensive sampling of process streams on a

regular basis, to achieve proper control and
optimum recovery. A concentrator or gold
reduction plant is usually equipped with
laboratory facilities capable of performing
analyses and assays. Modern plants may have
very sophisticated in-stream analysis and
control technology installed.

Pyrometallurgy is the use of furnaces to produce metals. Iron ore is

processed in a Blast Furnace with limestone and coke, with oxygen blown in,
to produce steel. Chromite is smelted in furnaces to produce Ferrochrome.

Copper and nickel concentrates are sent to smelters for processing in

stages in Furnaces and Converters, in which most of the gangue material
remaining in the concentrate is removed, comprising mainly iron, silica and
sulphur.

7. Refining and smelting

The product then goes to the final stage of processing in a Refinery where it
is fed in an acid solution into electrowinning cells. A current is passed
through the cells and pure metal is plated onto Cathodes for final despatch
and marketing. Oxide copper ore, after acid leaching, reports to the
electrowinning plant for the same process. An enhancement is Pressure
Leaching in which, as the name implies, leaching take place in a pressure
vessel, usually at an elevated temperature. Solvent Extraction-
Electrowinning (SX-EW) is a favoured modern process for producing metals
such as copper and nickel.

Smelters may be located at individual mines but are large, costly

installations which usually serve several mines. Smelters and blast furnaces
produce a waste product called Slag which is mainly Silica. It must be
disposed of on dumps although it may be used in other applications such as
cement manufacture. The main environmental aspect of smelters is that

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sulphur from the ore requires disposal. Massive volumes of sulphur dioxide
gas (SO2) are discharged from furnaces and converters. In the past, SO2 was
allowed to discharge to the atmosphere but this is no longer acceptable.

The gas is collected and usually converted to sulphuric acid. The acid has
potential commercial uses but may be produced in quantities exceeding the
capacities of the market and of transport networks. Neutralisation is
difficult and costly and SX-EW technology is much favoured as it eliminated
smelting.

8. Tailings management
Disposal of Tailings is one of the largest environmental impacts of those
mines where tailings are produced, especially gold, copper and nickel. The
design, construction, operation and maintenance of tailings dams is one of
the key concerns of mine management and of governments of host
countries. Major disasters have occurred in many places due to failure of
tailings impoundments, the most recent being in Brazil in November, 2015.
However, every day, mines globally deposit safely, millions of tonnes of
material onto tailings dams.

It is important to note the difference between waste rock and tailings.

Waste rock is unwanted rock which has to be mined but has no value, and is
disposed of without processing. Tailings comprises the waste material from
a processing plant, in pulp form.

The purposes of tailings dams are to permanently store plant waste material
in a safe and stable impoundment, and to recover as much water as
possible for re-use. Stability is achieved by controlled deposition into dams
whose sides have a suitably low slope angle, controlling the annual rate of
vertical rise of the dam and strictly controlling water. These factors
contribute to the very large areas occupied by most dams. The design must
recognise the effects of rainfall in adding water that must be handled, and
must prevent any possibility of water overflowing the top of the dam, down
the sides. Several different systems may be used to recover water and
return it to the plant.

Since tailings dams have flat-sloping sides and deposition occurs on the top,
a substantial amount of rehabilitation can be achieved during the operating
life. Establishment of vegetation, preferably indigenous, helps both with
stability and disposal of excess water.

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9. Mineral processing recovery
All mineral processing activities are subject to losses of the desired mineral,
which may occur at all stages of processing. A
plant has a Recovery which is the mass of product
recovered for final disposal, divided by the mass
contained in the ROM ore fed into the plant,
expressed as a percentage. Concentrator and
reduction plant
recoveries vary but
in most cases, 90%
recovery would be
considered satisfactory.

Mines operate sometimes complex metal

accounting systems and may install
sophisticated measuring equipment to aid in
this process. Because losses occur, it is
often economical to re-treat previously discarded material, e.g. tailings, to
recover residual valuable material. Gold tailings dumps have been
successfully re-processed for many years, sometimes several times each.
New technology and increases in commodity prices often make re-
processing viable. Even waste rock dumps may contain low grades of
valuable metal which can become viable for processing, especially when a
mine has excess processing capacity available.

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