Surface spectroscopic techniques have been applied to facets of the flotation beneficiation and hydrometallurgical extraction of sulfide minerals to enhance the fundamental understanding of these industrially important processes. As a precursor to the determination of surface chemical composition, the sub-surface properties of some sulfide minerals that have not previously been fully characterised were also investigated. The electronic properties of ??-NiS and ??-NiS (millerite), Ni3S2 (heazlewoodite), (Ni,Fe)9S8 (pentlandite), CuFe2S3 (cubanite), CuFeS2 (chalcopyrite), Cu5FeS4 (bornite) and CuS (covellite) were investigated by conventional and synchrotron X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy augmented by ab initio density of state calculations and NEXAFS spectral simulations. Particular aspects studied included the relationship between sulfur coordination number and core electron binding energies, the higher than expected core electron binding energies for the sulfur in the metal-excess nickel sulfides, and the formal oxidation states of the Cu and Fe in Cu-Fe sulfides. It was concluded that the binding energy dependence on coordination number was less than previously believed, that Ni-Ni bonding was the most likely explanation for the unusual properties of the Ni sulfides, and that there was no convincing evidence for Cu(II) in sulfides as had been claimed. Most of the NEXAFS spectra simulated by the FEFF8 and WIEN2k ab initio codes agreed well with experimental spectra, and the calculated densities of states were useful in rationalising the observed properties. XPS, static secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) and NEXAFS spectroscopy were used to investigate thiol flotation collector adsorption on several sulfides in order to determine the way in which the collector chemisorbs to the mineral surface, to differentiate monolayer from multilayer coverage, and to characterise the multilayer species. It was found that static SIMS alone was able to differentiate monolayer from multilayer coverage, and together with angle-resolved NEXAFS spectroscopy, was also able to confirm that 2-mercaptobenzothiazole interacted through both its N and exocyclic S atoms. The altered layers formed on chalcopyrite and heazlewoodite during acid leaching were examined primarily by means of threshold S KLL Auger electron spectroscopy, but no evidence for buried interfacial species was obtained.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of New South Wales, 1976. / "Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Biological Technology, University of New South Wales, 1976." Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D - Materials Science and Engineering) - University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 167-202).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2007. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 90 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-87).

Thesis (D.Sc.) --University of Adelaide, 1968.

Thesis (Master of Science)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,2008. / "June 2008." Bibliography: p. 45-47.

Thesis (M.S.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Geosciences. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--Wisconsin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 342-353).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of the Geophysical Sciences, June 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1996. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [170]-186).