<p> Lead isotope ratios have been determined by a VG.354 thermal ionization mass spectrometer on Sudbury Igneous Complex sulphide ores. The isotopic ratios are contrasted with the lead isotope profile of selected country rocks in the vicinity of the complex. South Range data form a linear array whose slope indicates an age of approximately 1.85 Ga, the published age of the igneous complex. They also indicate North Range data a magmatic origin for lead in the ore. North Range data describe a parallel isochron, with lower 206Pb/204Pb and 207Pb/204Pb ratios. The South and North Range data are similar to the lead-isotope composition of country rocks close to them, and indicate rather different crustal-source rocks for sulphide ores in these regions of the complex. This fact suggests that the Sudbury Igneous Complex was generated by a meteorite impact which occurred at the edge of the Huronian succession overlying the Southeast edge of the Superior Province. </p> / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

As organizations struggle with processing vast amounts of information, outsourcing sensitive data to third parties becomes a necessity. Various cryptographic techniques are used in outsourced database systems to ensure data privacy while allowing for efficient querying. This thesis proposes a definition and components of a new secure and efficient outsourced database system, which answers various types of queries, with different privacy guarantees in different security models. This work starts with the survey of five order-preserving and order-revealing encryption schemes that can be used directly in many database indices, such as the B+ tree, and five range query protocols with various tradeoffs in terms of security and efficiency. The survey systematizes the state-of-the-art range query solutions in a snapshot adversary setting and offers some non-obvious observations regarding the efficiency of the constructions. The thesis then proceeds with Epsolute - an efficient range query engine in a persistent adversary model. In Epsolute, security is achieved in a setting with a much stronger adversary where she can continuously observe everything on the server, and leaking even the result size can enable a reconstruction attack. Epsolute proposes a definition, construction, analysis, and experimental evaluation of a system that provably hides both access pattern and communication volume while remaining efficient. The dissertation concludes with k-anon - a secure similarity search engine in a snapshot adversary model. The work presents a construction in which the security of kNN queries is achieved similarly to OPE / ORE solutions - encrypting the input with an approximate Distance Comparison Preserving Encryption scheme so that the inputs, the points in a hyperspace, are perturbed, but the query algorithm still produces accurate results. Analyzing the solution, we run a series of experiments to observe the tradeoff between search accuracy and attack effectiveness. We use TREC datasets and queries for the search, and track the rank quality metrics such as MRR and nDCG. For the attacks, we build an LSTM model that trains on the correlation between a sentence and its embedding and then predicts words from the embedding. We conclude on viability and practicality of the solution.

This investigation has been carried out for the purpose of determining the effect of solid particle size distribution on the roasting and leaching of a complex sulfide ore. The effect of pulp density in the leaching process has also been studied. The oxidizing roast of the combined sulfide concentrates, prepared by bulk sulfide flotation and tabling, was conducted with a fluidized-bed kiln. The calcines were leached by dilute sulfuric acid in an autoclave. The following conclusions have been reached: 1. In the fluidized-bed roasting, the solid particles within the size range of minus 35 to plus 150-mesh would have a higher overflow rate from the fluidized bed. This inference might be effective only when the roasting is conducted under the conditions performed in this investigation. 2. In the process combining fluidized-bed roasting and dilute sulfuric acid leaching, the effect of solid particle size is significant. The solid particles within the size range of minus 65 to plus 150-mesh have the highest iron recovery, the highest copper and zinc extraction rates and the lowest sulfur content of leach residue. 3. In dilute sulfuric acid leaching there is no significant effect of pulp density within the range tested in this investigation. The general trends are: iron recovery decreases as the pulp density decreases, extraction rates of copper and zinc decrease as pulp density increases, and there is little pulp density effect on the sulfur content of leach residue. / Master of Science

Manganese is a metal of strategic importance which is vital to the steel industry. In the production of steel, the two main uses of manganese are as a deoxidizer and as an alloying constituent. Approximately 13 pounds of manganese are used for each ton of steel, and for this use alone, the requirement of the United States in 1956 will approach two million tons of ferromanganese ore. In 1954, the United States imported over 90 percent of its manganese requirements and if these sources become unavailable, this nation will be dependent to a great extent upon abundant low-grade ores. A sample of the head ore from the Betty Baker Mine, Great Gossan Lead, Carroll County, Virginia, analyzed 0.82 percent acid soluble manganese. An analysis of the tailings from flotation of this complex sulfide ore revealed a total manganese content of approximately three percent of which two-thirds is acid soluble. The remaining one percent is in the form of a silicate-aluminate gangue which is acid insoluble. Mechanical methods such as froth flotation, sink float, and magnetic separation have not been too effective in upgrading the ore from Carroll County. Chemical procedures, such as roasting, leaching, and electrodeposition, were thought to offer a better means for the recovery of manganese from the beneficiated ore or tailings. It was the purpose of this investigation to evaluate procedures for chemically converting the manganese compounds in the tailings, from bulk sulfide flotation of the Carroll County ore, to soluble salts from which the manganese could be recovered electrolytically. / Master of Science

This investigation deals with the application of high pressure and high-temperature leaching techniques to separate out zinc and copper from the iron constituents of a calcined sulfide ore. An important variable in this study proved to be the concentration of the leaching reagent -- sulfuric acid. The leaching temperature was varied within a range of 250°F to 550°F., and 8 cubic centimeters to 20 cubic centimeters of sulfuric acid in 2000 cubic centimeters of distilled water was employed as the leaching agent concentration. The major equipment utilized for roasting was the fluidized bed and an autoclave for leaching. After the physical and chemical treatments of roasting and leaching of the calcine, the resulting constituents were studied by means of quantitative chemical analysis. Numerical theories were used to correlate the points obtained into continuous functions of the leaching temperature, concentration of sulfuric acid and the recovery percentage. From these curves, it is concluded that the recovery of the impurities in the calcine is proportional to the leaching temperature and the concentration of the leaching agent. However, under certain circumstances, the leaching action causes loss of iron in the calcine, and the minimizing of the loss in leaching is also studied. / Master of Science

The probability of particle capture by an isolated bubble rising through a suspension of particles has been determined using fundamental principles of fluid mechanics. This analysis has allowed the rate constant for flotation to be evaluated as functions of bubble sine, particle size, flotation column diameter, air flow rate and critical film rupture thickness. The last parameter is a measure of the hydrophobicity of the particles to be floated. Using the theoretically determined rate constant, a population balance model has been developed for the flotation of fine coal in a column. The model is capable of predicting the dynamic response of the flotation column to changes in a wide range of operational conditions. Model simulations have been found to be in reasonable agreement with experiments conducted using a bench-scale column. / Ph. D. / incomplete_metadata

Thesis (MScEng) –Stellenbosch University, 2010 / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: More mining houses are turning their attention to the processing of ore mined from the UG2 reef. This is mainly due to the depletion of the Merensky reef or the low availability of ore from the Platreef. With the higher UG2 ore concentration in the process feed, companies experience more problems with the processing of the ore due to its high chrome content. Although there are various possible solutions to the problems experienced in the processing of UG2 ore, very little of thise solutions are actually implemented in the industry. When smelting chrome-bearing ore, the chrome can go to any of three phases: matte phase, spinel phase or glass phase. If it reports to the furnace matte phase it can lead to problems in the down stream processing. When chrome forms part of the spinel phase it forms a solid, refractory-like material which, to an extent, is an unwanted material inside the furnace. Lastly the chrome can report to the glass phase (liquid phase) which is the more desireable phase to which chrome should report to since it will have little or no impact on downstream processing. There were four main objectives for this research project namely to conduct a literature review to understand the problem of chrome in the smelting process, to do an experimental simulation of a matte and slag phase in one crucible, to interpret the experimental results and compare the experimental results to thermodynamic predictions obtained using FactSageTM. From literature the following aspects were found to be important: Silica structures Research has shown that silica incorporates different metal ions into its structures. When the metal ions are incorporated into the silica structures they are seen as part of the glass phase. By incorporating cations such as chromium into the silica structure the structure is able to maintain its neutral electrical charge. Basicity of slag Oxides once melted will either donate or accept oxide ions. The group of oxides that are in excess will determine whether that specific slag is acidic or non acidic. This is important to our study since the basicity can determine the stability of the spinel phase. Partial pressures The partial pressure of the system is important since it forms part of the equilibrium constant calculations - meaning that partial pressures determine the stability of certain species. Currently different arguments exist as to how the sulphur pressure inside a molten bath is maintained. What is important, however, is that for the system in this research project a log oxygen partial pressure of -8 and a log sulphur partial pressure of -3.5 was chosen. These values were based on previous research done on PGM and copper smelting processes. Chrome deportment Previous research on chrome deportment shows a relationship between temperature and the amount of chromium dissolving into the glass phase as well as an increased chromium(II)oxide solubility (when compared to chromium(III)oxide) in a silicate melt. Regarding slag chemistry and chrome deportment very little work has been published for the system found in the PGM industry but it is mentioned that by adjusting certain slag additives (alumina, lime and silica) the chrome deportment can be manipulated. The scope of this project was to investigate the effect of chromium, lime and silica on chrome deportment. More specifically, the effect of lime. The reason being that lime was originally added as 10%wt of the feed stream in the processing of Merensky ore to act as a fluxing agent. With the new furnace design and higher power densities the slag are maintained at 200oC to 350oC higher than when Merensky ore was smelted. With these higher slag temperatures fluxing agents will play a smaller role meaning that lime additions become less important. Literature studies also showed that additional lime in a slag system can stabilize the spinel structure (which is an unwanted phase). Removing lime would be advantageous out of a chrome presepective as well as an economic point of view. The research was conducted in three sections namely the determination of the time required for this particular system to reach equilibrium, the investigation of different additives on chrome deportment using a controlled atmosphere and synthetic slags and, lastly, a comparison of the experimental results obtained to thermodynamic predictions. For the equilibration studies reaction time periods of 4,7,11 and 16 hours were used. From the results it was found that the alumina crucible dissolved into the glass phase continually. This indicated that equilibrium was not reached. However, a reaction time, rather than an equilibrium time, was chosen where the species and phases had enough time to react. This was based on literature, on observations of species diffusing between the matte and slag phase as well as on two-point analysis (diffusion gradients). A reaction time of nine hours was chosen With the reaction time fixed, the effect of different slag additives on chrome deportment was investigated. For the addition of chrome it was seen that an 1.5%wt increase in the starting material increased the chrome content of the slag phase by 0.025%wt. For the same increase in chromium in the starting materials the chrome content of the spinel phase increased by 2.1% indicating that chromium has a tendency to report to the spinel phase. The increase in chromium had a minor effect on the chrome content of the matte phase, however, since the chrome content only increased from 0.025%wt to 0.028%wt. Plotting the results showed that increasing the lime in the starting material decreases the chromium content in the glass phase. For the 39%wt silica system the chromium content in the glass phase decreased from 0.75%wt to 0.46%wt for an increase in the lime content from 1.7%wt to 7.3%wt. The same trend was seen for the 33%wt silica system. For the spinel phase an increase of 1.27%wt was seen when the lime content of the starting materials was increased from 1.7%wt to 10.1%wt for a 33%wt silica system. The same increase in lime increased the chrome content of the matte phase from 0.03%wt to 0.06%wt for a 33%wt silica system. Silica also proved to affect chrome deportment. Increasing the silica content of the starting materials from 25%wt to 39%wt increased the amount of chromium in the glass phase from 0%wt to 0.46%wt for a 10%wt lime system. The same effect is seen for a lower lime content except that more chromium were incorporated into the silica structure. A silica increase from 32.4%wt to 39%wt resulted in a chromium decrease from 5.2%wt to 0% in the spinel phase for a 10%wt lime system. The same trend was seen for the 1.5%wt lime system. An increase in the silica levels lead to an increase in the chrome level of the matte phase. When silica is increased from 32%wt to 39%wt the chrome content of the matte phase increased from 0.06%wt to 0.07%wt. The last part of the research project entailed the comparison of the trends observed with the experimental results to trends obtained from thermodynamic predictions. FactSageTM is a program that uses model equations to predict the Gibbs free energies for different phases. The program is therefore also able to predict the amount of different phases present at equilibrium. This is called thermodynamic ”optimization”. In section 6 trends that were observed from FactSageTM results are compared to the trends found in the experimental results. It is important to note that it is only trends that are evaluated and not actual values since FactSageTM calculations are for a system that is at equilibrium and (as explained above) this system is not at complete equilibrium. The comparison however was good. Several trends found in the experimental results were confirmed by the results from FactSageTM. These included the relationships of chromium fed versus chromium spinel, lime fed versus chromium spinel, lime fed versus chromium in glass, silica fed versus chromium in glass, silica fed versus chromium in spinel and silica fed versus chromium in matte. To conclude, slag additions can be used to manipulate chrome deportment to an extent. Secondly, FactSageTM can be used for thermodynamic predictions but a proper understanding as well as some form of validation of the specific system investigated is still needed. Due to time constraints and the difficulty of experimentally simulating this multi-phase system in the lab, only a few parameters were investigated. In order to obtain a more complete understanding of the system the effect of partial pressures and temperature should also be investigated.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Mining Engineering. University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering / Hlstorically South Africa has enjoyed a privileged position with its vast natural resource base in that it has.not needed to generate wealth but has merely explored this base, The only true way to create wealth, is to add value to a commodity by means of beneficiation, South Africa is the world's largest producer of vanadium accounting for approximately 70% of the western world's requirements. Unfortunately the South African producers of vanadium mainly export vanadium in the form of slag and pentoxide, instead or ferrovanadium and other prime alloys. ( Abbreviation abstract) / AC 2018

Oxidized hydrous intermediate composition magmas are responsible for porphyry copper (Cu ±Mo ±Au) deposits and epithermal Au ore deposits formed globally in the shallow crust (Sillitoe, 2010; Seedorff et al., 2005). Recently, zircon geochemistry has been used to characterize both productive and barren intrusions associated with porphyry Cu-Au ore deposits. Zircon composition differs slightly between the two intrusive groups, and researchers have proposed that zircon in productive intrusions has crystallized from a relatively more oxidized melt compared to barren intrusions (Ballard et al., 2002; Muñoz et al., 2012). Zircon rare earth elements record anomalies in Ce and Eu contents that allow estimation of the ratio of oxidized versus reduced species, i.e. Ce⁴⁺/Ce³⁺ (Ce[superscript IV]/Ce[superscript III]) and Eu³⁺/Eu²⁺ (Eu/Eu*)[subscript CN]. This study focuses on understanding the compositions of Eocene magmas associated with sediment hosted Carlin gold deposits and the gold-copper ores of the Battle Mountain porphyry Cu-Au-skarn district in northern Nevada. Zircon trace element composition was analyzed using LA-ICP-MS and SHRIMP-RG to determine differences between mineralizing and non-mineralizing intrusions in northern Nevada and to compare these compositions with known porphyry Cu-Au type magmas. These zircon and rock compositional data was then used to test the hypothesis of a magmatic origin of the Carlin type gold deposits (Muntean et al., 2011). Zircon U-Pb ages were calculated using multiple SHRIMP-RG spot analyses of each sample for two Carlin biotite porphyry dikes, two Battle Mountain porphyry dikes and the granodiorite of the Copper Canyon stock. The new U-Pb age dates for Carlin porphyry dikes are 38.7 ± 0.5 Ma and 38.8 ± 0.4 Ma. The age of the Copper Canyon stock is 38.0 ± 0.7 Ma, and the age of the Battle Mountain porphyry dikes are 40.2 ± 0.4 Ma and 41.3 ± 0.4 Ma. The Carlin dike ages are the same age, within uncertainty, with previous studies conducted (Mortensesn et al., 2000). The productive porphyry dikes from the Battle Mountain district have Ce(IV)/Ce(III) ratios of 500 to 10000 and a wide range of (Eu/Eu*)[subscript CN] values between 0.3 and 0.7 respectively. Carlin porphyry dikes have Ce(IV)/Ce(III) values between 100 and 1000, and a more limited (Eu/Eu*)[subscript CN] range of 0.5 to 0.7. Barren Eocene intrusions at Harrison Pass and Caetano have much lower Ce(IV)/Ce(III) ratios that range from 20 to 500, and have a very large span of (Eu/Eu*)[subscript CN] from 0.03 to 0.6. Calculated Ce(IV)/Ce(III) and (Eu/Eu*)[subscript CN] of zircon of this study illustrate a distinction between productive and barren intrusions in northern Nevada, and demonstrate a geochemical link between porphyry type magmas and dikes associated with Carlin type gold deposits. These ratios may provide a useful means of evaluating potentially economic geologic terranes and serving as a method to infer relative oxidation state of zircon bearing intrusive rocks. / Graduation date: 2013

Ore classification is useful for understanding and controlling industrial beneficiation processes. The present work contributes to the developement of a computer vision system for automated classification of iron ores by image analysis of optical micrographs. For this purpose, morphological feature extraction algorithms were implemented and feature based classification algorithms were developed. These methods were successfully applied to the classification of hematite grains into four classes determined by their shape (lamellar or granular) and porosity (porous and compact) as characterized by just four features, namely, circularity, aspect ratio, fiber ratio and porosity. / A classificação de minérios é útil para o entendimento e controle processos de beneficiamento industrial. O presente trabalho contribui para o desenvolvimento de um sistema de visão computacional para realizar a classificação automática de minério de ferro por análise de imagens de micrografia ótica. Com este propósito, algoritmos de extração de características morfológicas foram implementados e algoritmos de classificação com base em características foram desenvolvidos. Estes métodos foram aplicados com sucesso à classificação de grãos de hematita em quatro classes determinadas pela sua forma (lamelar ou granular) e porosidade (porosa e compacta) utilizando apenas quatro características, a saber, circularidade, razão de aspecto, razão de fibra e porosidade.