The project undertook a systematic study of chlorination of titanium oxycarbide and oxycarbonitride with the aim to develop further understanding of kinetics and mechanisms of the chlorination reactions. The project studied titania, ilmenite ores, and synthetic rutile reduced by carbon in argon and nitrogen and chlorinated at different temperatures, gas flow rates and compositions. Chlorination of titanium suboxides, iron and impurities in ilmenite was also examined. Chlorination of titanium oxycarbide Ti(O,C) or oxycarbonitride Ti(O,C,N) can be implemented at 200 to 400 deg.C, while the commercial chlorination process in the production of titanium metal or titania pigment requires 800 to 1100 deg.C. This makes chlorination of Ti(O,C) or Ti(O,C,N) an attractive technology in processing of titanium minerals. Chlorination reaction is strongly exothermal, which increased the sample temperature up to 200 deg.C above the furnace temperature. The chlorination of Ti(O,C) or Ti(O,C,N) was ignited at 150 deg.C to 200 deg.C depending on the sample composition. Their chlorination at 235 deg.C to 400 deg.C was close to completion in less than 30 min. The chlorination rate of titanium oxycarbide or oxycarbonitride increased with increasing gas flow rate. Sample composition had a significant effect on the extent of chlorination. The optimum results were obtained for titanium oxycarbide or oxycarbonitride produced with carbon to titania molar ratio of 2.5; these samples contained no detectable excess of carbon or unreduced titanium suboxides. In chlorination of reduced ilmenite ores and synthetic rutile, Ti(O,C) or Ti(O,C,N), metallic iron and Ti2O3 were chlorinated. The rate and extent of chlorination of titanium increased with increasing carbon to TiO2 ratio. Chlorination of Ti2O3 was slow relative to Ti(O,C) or Ti(O,C,N) and iron; chlorination of impurity oxides such as MgO, SiO2 and Al2O3 was not observed. The project also examined chlorination of Ti(O,C) or Ti(O,C,N) in ilmenite ore and synthetic rutile after removal of iron, which was achieved by aerated leaching of reduced samples in heated flask containing 0.37 M of ammonium chloride solution. Iron removal from the ilmenite ore or synthetic rutile resulted in higher rate and extent of chlorination of titanium oxycarbide or oxycarbonitride.

No description available.

No description available.

The project undertook a systematic study of chlorination of titanium oxycarbide and oxycarbonitride with the aim to develop further understanding of kinetics and mechanisms of the chlorination reactions. The project studied titania, ilmenite ores, and synthetic rutile reduced by carbon in argon and nitrogen and chlorinated at different temperatures, gas flow rates and compositions. Chlorination of titanium suboxides, iron and impurities in ilmenite was also examined. Chlorination of titanium oxycarbide Ti(O,C) or oxycarbonitride Ti(O,C,N) can be implemented at 200 to 400 deg.C, while the commercial chlorination process in the production of titanium metal or titania pigment requires 800 to 1100 deg.C. This makes chlorination of Ti(O,C) or Ti(O,C,N) an attractive technology in processing of titanium minerals. Chlorination reaction is strongly exothermal, which increased the sample temperature up to 200 deg.C above the furnace temperature. The chlorination of Ti(O,C) or Ti(O,C,N) was ignited at 150 deg.C to 200 deg.C depending on the sample composition. Their chlorination at 235 deg.C to 400 deg.C was close to completion in less than 30 min. The chlorination rate of titanium oxycarbide or oxycarbonitride increased with increasing gas flow rate. Sample composition had a significant effect on the extent of chlorination. The optimum results were obtained for titanium oxycarbide or oxycarbonitride produced with carbon to titania molar ratio of 2.5; these samples contained no detectable excess of carbon or unreduced titanium suboxides. In chlorination of reduced ilmenite ores and synthetic rutile, Ti(O,C) or Ti(O,C,N), metallic iron and Ti2O3 were chlorinated. The rate and extent of chlorination of titanium increased with increasing carbon to TiO2 ratio. Chlorination of Ti2O3 was slow relative to Ti(O,C) or Ti(O,C,N) and iron; chlorination of impurity oxides such as MgO, SiO2 and Al2O3 was not observed. The project also examined chlorination of Ti(O,C) or Ti(O,C,N) in ilmenite ore and synthetic rutile after removal of iron, which was achieved by aerated leaching of reduced samples in heated flask containing 0.37 M of ammonium chloride solution. Iron removal from the ilmenite ore or synthetic rutile resulted in higher rate and extent of chlorination of titanium oxycarbide or oxycarbonitride.

In mineral processing the grinding comminution process is an integral part since it is often the bottleneck of the concentrating process, thus small improvements may lead to large savings. By implementing a Reinforcement Learning controller this thesis aims to investigate if it is possible to control the grinding process more efficiently compared to traditional control strategies. Based on a calibrated plant simulation we compare existing control strategies with Proximal Policy Optimization and show possible increase in profitability under certain conditions.

Os estudos visando o aproveitamento dos minerais de interesse econômico associados ao Granito Madeira, Pitinga, AM, foram subdivididos em três etapas. A primeira etapa compreendeu a realização de estudos de caracterização tecnológica, com um detalhado estudo mineralógico enfocando a forma de ocorrência e granulometria de liberação dos minerais de interesse. Foi identificado pela primeira vez a presença de criolita, mineral raro, cujo valor agregado supera o conjunto de todos os demais minerais de interesse econômico. Verificou-se que a granulometria de liberação dos minerais pesados era muito distinta; valores de 80% são observados para a zirconita acumulada abaixo de 0,595 mm, para a cassiterita abaixo de 0,297 mm e para os minerais de nióbio abaixo de 0,149 mm. A segunda etapa compreendeu, essencialmente, a realização de estudos de desenvolvimento de processo de concentração dos minerais pesados, incluindo ensaios de concentração densitária e separações eletrostática e magnética. Foram estabelecidas as características dos concentrados passíveis de serem obtidos e suas respectivas recuperações metalúrgicas, bem como definido um fluxograma de beneficiamento a ser confirmado em escala piloto. A terceira etapa teve por enfoque principal o desenvolvimento de uma rota de processo para a concentração da criolita, a qual, embora ainda não otimizada, é sumariada a seguir: - deslamagem dos rejeitos da concentração densitária, seguido de flotação aniônica direta, mediante a utilização de \"tal oil\" como coletor e amido de milho e como processor; - remoagem do concentrado \"rougher\" a menos 0,074 mm, em circuito fechado com classificação, seguido de flotação reversa do concentrado \"rougher\" remoído, com coletor catiônico, Armacflote MIC-66 (marca Akzo); - descoleta do concentrado da flotação catiônica, seguido de flotação aniônica com sulfonato de petróleo, Aero 840 (marca Cyanamid), para a separação entre a criolita e os demais minerais de flúor portadores de cálcio; - separação magnética de alta intensidade via úmida, \"WHIMS\", do concentrado da última etapa de flotação (com 0,5% a 0,7% de Fe203), visando minimizar os teores de ferro; - lixiviação clorídrica do produto não-magnético, com a redução suplementar dos teores de ferro, atingindo valores de 0,16 a 0,20% de Fe203. / Studies at the Pitinga primary ore envolved three stages. The first one consisted of detailed mineralogical studies emphasizing the occurrence patterns and the degree of liberation of the minerals in the granitic ground ore. Cryolite in the Pitinga ore was then identified for the first time. The liberation sizes for heavy minerals are quite distinct; a liberation degree of 80% was observed for zircon accumulated under 0,595 mm for cassiterite under 0,297 mm and for niobium minerals under 0,149 mm. The second stage comprised essentially mineral dressing studies to concentrate the heavy minerals. Discontinuous gravity concentration, electrostatic and magnetic separation tests were performed to establish the characteristics of the mineral concentrates and their recoveries, as well as to define a plant flowsheet to be confirmed in continuous pilot plant tests. The definition of a mineral processing route for cryolite concentration was the main object of the last stage. The following sequence of procedures, to be further investigated, was established: - disliming of gravity concentration taillings, followed by direct anionic flotation of fluorine minerals, using tall oil as collector and starch as depressant; - regrinding of the rougher concentrate to minus 0,074 mm, in a closed circuit with classification, followed by reverse cationic flotation to remove silicates, with Armacflote MIC-66 (Akzo trade mark); - remotion of the cationic collector and subsequence anionic flotation with petroleum sulfonate as collector (Aero 840, Cyanamid trade mark), to separate cryolite from the other fluorine minerals and small amounts of silicates; - wet high intensity magnetic separation (WHIMS) on the obtained flotation concentrate; - dilute hydrochloric acid leaching of the non-magnetic product from WHIMS to reduce the iron contamination levels to around 0,16% to 0,25% Fe203.

Neste trabalho foram abordados aspectos da cadeia do molibdênio e da molibdenita nos mercados internacional e nacional, mostrando as ocorrências e suas principais aplicações. Atualmente, no Brasil, a única opção de aproveitamento econômico desse bem mineral é o minério de molibdenita gerado como coproduto ou subproduto da mineração artesanal de esmeraldas, na região de Campo Formoso e Pindobaçu, BA. A caracterização tecnológica de minérios, produtos e do processo utilizado na recuperação da molibdenita de Campo Formoso mostrou que entraves de natureza tecnológica, com destaque relacionado ao concentrado produzido, geram produtos de baixo teor e, consequentemente, de pequeno valor econômico. Isto é devido, principalmente, à presença de outros minerais hidrofóbicos, como o talco, com propriedades físico-químicas semelhantes às da molibdenita e que são co-flotados no processo de beneficiamento. Detectado o problema, e após uma revisão bibliográfica sobre o assunto, realizou-se um estudo fundamental, em escala de laboratório, sobre a separação molibdenita/talco por flotação, com a utilização de diferentes depressores empregados, usualmente, em operações de tratamento de minérios. Dentre os depressores utilizados, a dextrina e o quebracho promoveram janelas de separabilidade entre os minerais molibdenita e talco de 63 e 68%, respectivamente. Os resultados alcançados nesses estudos fundamentais motivaram um aumento de escala, passando dos testes de microflotação em célula Partridge & Smith, para testes de flotação em bancada em célula Denver, com as dosagens dos reagentes calculadas em termos de gramas de reagente por tonelada de alimentação à flotação (concentrado de molibdenita). Na flotação em escala de bancada, os melhores resultados foram obtidos com uso da dextrina como depressor da molibdenita, na dosagem de 100 g/t, para um circuito com cinco etapas de limpeza, foi possível obter um concentrado de molibdenita com 93,4% de MoS2, o qual encontra-se dentro dos requisitos exigidos pelo comércio internacional. / In this scientific and technological contribution, the aspects of the molybdenum and molybdenite chain in the domestic and international markets were discussed, showing the occurrences and their main applications. Currently, in Brazil the only option for the economic exploitation of this mineral resource is the molybdenite as a co-product or by-product of emeralds small-scale mining, at the region of Campo Formoso and Pindobaçu, BA. The technological characterization of ores, products and the process used in the recovery of molybdenite from Campo Formoso has shown that barriers of technological nature, with emphasis on the produced concentrate, generate products of low molybdenite grade and, therefore, of low economic value. This is due to the presence, in particular, of other hydrophobic minerals, such as talc, with physical-chemical properties similar to those of molybdenite and are co-floated in the beneficiation process. Once detected the problem, and after an extensive literature survey on the subject, a fundamental study was carried out, in lab-scale, to separate molybdenite from talc by froth flotation, by testing different depressants conventionally used in actual mineral processing operations. Among the tested depressants, dextrin and quebracho promoted separation gaps between the molybdenite and talc minerals of 63 and 68%, respectively. The achieved results in that fundamental study has motivated an scale up from micro-flotation tests, in Partridge & Smith cell, to bench scale flotation tests in a Denver cell, reagents additions were calculated according to the ore (molybdenite concentrate) throughput into the industrial flotation circuits. In the bench scale flotation tests, the best results, in terms of molybdenite recovery, were reached by using dextrin as molybdenite depressant, at a dosage of 100 g.t-1, for a circuit with five cleaner steps. It was possible to get a molybdenite concentrate with 93.4% of MoS2, which is within the requirements of the international trade.

In mineral processing, one of the most important and versatile separation methods is flotation. Flotation utilizes the different surface properties of the valuable minerals in the ore to separate them from the less valuable gangue material in the ore. Crushed and ground ore is mixed with water and fed into flotation tanks. In the flotation tanks, the particles of valuable mineral are made hydrophobic. That way, they can be floated by attaching to air bubbles and gather on top of the flotation tank as froth. This froth, containing higher concentrations of valuable mineral, is recovered and then processed further. The flotation circuit is controlled and maintained using measurements on the mass flows and grades of different materials. Due to economical, practical, and technological limitations, these measurements are performed at a chosen number of points in the circuit and at discrete points in time. Poor measurement data can have devastating consequences if the operators are left with limited information and errors in the circuit remain undetected. The accuracy of the acquired measurements is improved by performing mass balance and reconciliation. Traditionally, mass balance uses the sum of the total mass flows and the average grades over long times to avoid including the internal mass of the circuit in the calculations. It is desirable to perform mass balance directly to allow for faster intervention if any failures occur in the circuit during the on-line process. This report describes an on-line dynamic approach towards mass balancing and reconciliation of the mass flows and grades in a flotation circuit. Here, physical models of the flotation circuit are used to construct mass balance constraints using interpolation and test functions and the mass balance problem is posed as an optimization problem. The optimization problem is to adjust the assay such that the residual, the difference between the measured and the adjusted assay, is minimized while maintaining mass balance. An implementation in MATLAB and tests on synthetic data show that the dynamic formulation of mass balance does adjust 'erroneous' measurements such that mass balance is fulfilled. Given this result, there are still important aspects of the implementation that have to be addressed. The model uses the unknown and cell specific parameters flotation rate and recovery. Thus, these must be found or properly modeled. This report proposes a possible model for flotation rate as well as a strategy to find the recovery. The requirements of accuracy and speed of the implementation are also discussed. Possible next steps of this project is to further confirm a time effective implementation using synthetic data. Consequently, the implementation can be adapted for natural data in order to verify correctness of models. / I malmanrikning, är flotation en av de viktigaste och mest mångsidiga metoderna. Flotation utnyttjar de fysikaliska ytegenskaperna som partiklar av värdemineral har för att separera dessa från det mindre värdefulla gråberget i malmen. Krossad och mald malm blandas med vatten och matas in i flotationstankar. I flotationstankarna görs partiklarna av värdemineral hydrofobiska. På så vis kan de fästa sig vid luftbubblor och flyta till ytan och bilda ett skum. Detta skum samlas sedan ihop och behandlas vidare eftersom det innehåller en högre koncentration av värdemineral. Flotationskretsen styrs och underhålls med hjälp av mätningar av massflödena och halterna av de olika ämnena som finns i kretsen. På grund av ekonomiska, praktiska, och teknologiska hinder kan dessa mätningar bara göras på ett utvalt antal punkter i kretsen samt bara vid diskreta tillfällen. Felaktigt data kan ha förödande konsekvenser om operatörerna lämnas med begränsad information och processen fortlöper med oupptäckta fel. Mätsäkerheten kan förbättras med hjälp av massbalansering och haltjustering. Traditionellt görs massbalansering genom att summera den totala massan som löpt genom kretsen samt medelvärden av halterna över lång tid för att undvika att räkna in den interna massan i systemet. Det är önskvärt att utföra massbalansering direkt för att möjliggöra snabbare ingrepp ifall fel uppstår i kretsen under den fortlöpande processen. Denna rapport beskriver en dynamisk lösning för massbalansering och justering av massflöden och halter i en flotationskrets. Här används fysikaliska modeller av kretsen för att konstruera bivillkor för massbalans med hjälp utav interpolation och testfunktioner och massbalanseringsproblemet ställs upp som ett optimeringsproblem. Optimeringen sker genom att justera mätserien så att residualen, skillnaden mellan det uppmätta värdet och det justerade värdet, minimeras under uppfyllande av mass balans. En implementation i MATLAB och tester på syntetisk data visar att den dynamiska formuleringen av massbalans justerar de felaktiga mätvärdena så att massbalans uppfylls. Med det resultatet i åtanke, finns det fortfarande viktiga aspekter av implementationen som bör tas hänsyn till. Modellen använder de okända och cellspecifika parametrarna flotationshastighet och utbytet och dessa måste kunna bestämmas för att denna modell ska kunna användas. Ett förslag på modellering av flotationshastigheten föreslås i rapporten. Dessutom ges förslag på strategier att hitta utbytet. Kraven på noggrannhet och snabbhet diskuteras också. Möjliga nästa steg för projektet är att vidareutveckla en tidseffektiv implementation genom att använda syntetiska data. Därefter kan en implementation för naturligt data verifiera modellerna.

Attractive particle interactions which lead to the hetero-aggregation or 'sliming' of silicate clay gangue and valuable sulphide mineral particles are encountered in a number of hydrometallurgical and flotation processes. Sliming leads to poor recovery of the valuable minerals and high recovery of the clay gangue minerals in flotation concentrates. In the present work, the hetero-aggregation mechanism of hydrophilic mica clay mineral sericite (or muscovite) and hydrophobic chalcocite was investigated by probing the particle interactions and the prevailing interfacial chemistry under dispersion conditions where the individual chalcocite and sericite particles displayed negative zeta potentials. The mitigation/suppression of the hetero-aggregation was examined via the prudent control of dispersion conditions and pulp chemistry (i.e., pH modification and solution speciation control) and the use of two, anionic, polymeric dispersants with different molecular weight and functionality (carboxylate-substituted polyacrylamide, Cyquest 3223 and sulphonate-substituted polymaleic acid, P80 co-polymers) as dispersants. The adsorption behaviour of both polymers onto both minerals under industrially relevant suspension conditions have been quantified in terms of the polymer adsorption density and the adsorbed layer characteristics. These interfacial layer properties which impact on the mineral particles' zeta potentials and interactions, and also underpin the dispersion efficacy of polymers were characterized, using interfacial and solution analytical methods and TM-AFM imaging analysis.

Lithium represents one of the strategic elements for the rest of the 21st century due to its increasing demand in technological applications. Therefore, new efforts should be focused on the optimization of mineral characterization processes, which link the ore properties with its behaviour during downstream processes. These efforts should result in reducing operational risks and increasing resources utilization. The methodology presented in this study is based on the application of several classification techniques, aiming the mineral and textural characterization of two spodumene pegmatite deposits within the Keliber Lithium Project. Twelve textural classes have been proposed for the textual classification of the ore, which have been defined through the recognition of the main mineral features at macro- and micro-scale. The textural classification was performed through the application of drill core logging and scanning electron microscopy. Six classes are proposed to describe the characteristics of the spodumene ore. Six additional classes describe the main properties of the rocks surrounding the ore zone. Image analysis was implemented for the generation of mineral maps and the subsequent quantification of spodumene and Li2O within the analysed drill core images. The image segmentation process was executed in Fiji-ImageJ and is based on eight mineral classes and a set of seven feature extraction procedures. Thus, quantification of spodumene and Li2O is estimated by textural class. Hyperspectral images were used as a reference for assessing the estimations made through images analysis. A machine learning model in Weka allowed forecasting the behaviour of the twelve textural classes during spodumene flotation. This model is fed by metallurgical data from previous flotation tests and uses Random Forest classifier. The proposed methodology serves as an inexpensive but powerful approach for the complete textural characterization of the ore at Keliber Lithium Project. It provides information about: (1) mineral features at different scales, (2) spatial distribution of textures within the pegmatite body, (3) quantification of spodumene and Li2O within the drill cores and (4) processing response of each textural class. However, its application requires wide knowledge and expertise in the mineralogy of the studied deposits. / <p>Thesis Presentation.</p><p>Textural and Mineralogical Characterization of Li-pegmatite Deposit: Using Microanalytical and Image Analysis to Link Micro and Macro Properties of Spodumene in Drill Cores.  Keliber Lithium Project, Finland.</p><p></p>