The origin of apatite iron oxide ores, like the deposit at Grängesberg in the Bergslagen mining district, has been a subject of much discussion through the years. Some support a formation by hydrothermal fluids while others suggest that the ore is orthomagmatic, i.e. formed directly from a magma as suggested for the iron ore deposits of El Laco in Chile or the deposits in Kiruna, although also these two are still subjected to controversies. In 2009 sampling was done on drillcores through the Grängesberg ore. On these samples an oxygen isotope study on magnetite, quartz and whole rock samples from both the ore and its host rocks was conducted in order to obtain new knowledge about the ore forming processes. The data allowed modeling to simulate a possible origin by different magmas or hydrothermal fluids as well as a possible temperature of formation. In addition, the data set was compared to published oxygen isotope analyses of the possible magmatic iron ores of Kiruna and El Laco. The results of the Grängesberg analysis revealed that the ore in the area seems to have an origin from both magmatic and hydrothermal sources.

ABSTRACT PRODUCTION OF HEAVY-MEDIA-QUALITY MAGNETITE CONCENTRATE FROM KESiKK&Ouml / PR&Uuml / IRON ORE TAILINGS G&uuml / ng&ouml / r, Kazim M. Sc. Department of Mining Engineering Supervisor: Prof. Dr. M. &Uuml / mit Atalay May 2010, 91 pages The aim of this research was to investigate the possibility of the production of a magnetite concentrate which is suitable for preparation of heavy media from iron ore tailings of G&uuml / ncem Mining Company magnetic separation facility. During the study, three different tailings named as low grade, medium grade and high grade with 5.91 % Fe3O4, 19.06 % Fe3O4 and 37.06 % Fe3O4, respectively, were used. Mineralogical analyses of test samples showed that magnetite and hematite were the major ore minerals while pyrite and chalcopyrite were found in trace amounts. Actimolite, tremolite, epidote, chlorite, quartz, calcite, and dolomite were the gangue minerals. The effects of feed particle size and applied magnetic field intensity on the Fe3O4 grade and recovery of concentrate were examined throughout magnetic concentration tests. The highest grade magnetite concentrate with 79.98% Fe3O4 content was obtained with 65.42% recovery from 100% -75 micron size feed at 1000 Gauss magnetic field intensity from high grade tailing.

The Dannemora skarn iron ore deposit is located in the northeastern part of Bergslagen. The deposit has been mined from the 1400’s and stopped in 1992, the mine was reopen in 2012 and it will close in 2015. The Dannemora deposit is hosted by 1.9 Ga old sedimentary and volcanic rocks. The deposit consists of both manganese rich and manganese poor iron ore. The purpose of this study is to investigate the controlling factors for manganese content in both magnetite and surrounding silicate minerals, especially when garnets is present. Also the mineral assemblage and association with different host rocks lithologies shall be investigated. Petrographical and chemical studies indicate the occurrence of both calcic amphibole and Mg-Fe-Mn-Li type amphibole. The calcic amphibole is found in the majority of the samples and is dominant in manganese poor samples where as Mg-Fe-Mn-Li-type amphibole is more abundant in the manganese rich samples. Generally in the manganese rich samples garnet and epidote become more abundant, particularly if the sample is taken close to a volcanic section. / Skarn-järnmalmsfyndigheten i Dannemora är belägen i den nordöstra delen av Bergslagen. Järnmalm och mindre sulfidmineraliseringar har blivit brutna sedan 1400-talet. Gruvan stängde 1992 men togs i produktion igen under 2012. Gruvan stängs återigen under 2015. Fyndigheten är omgiven av 1.9 Ga gamla sedimentära och vulkaniska bergarter. Järnmalmsfyndigheten innehåller både manganrika och manganfattiga järnmalmer. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka varför fyndigheten har förhöjda halter av mangan. Förändringar av manganhalter och olika värdbergarter borde ge en annorlunda mineralsammansättning i de olika miljöerna. För att svara på dessa frågor skall både mikroskopiska och kemiska undersökningar göras för att bestämma och identifiera olika mineralogiska associationer. Petrografiska och kemiska studier indikerar två olika huvudtyper av amfiboler: kalciumhaltiga amfiboler och Mg-Fe-Mn-Li-amfiboler. Kalciumamfibolerna är generellt mer spridda i proverna medan Mg-Fe-Mn-Li-amfibolerna är mer koncentrerade till de mer manganrika sektionerna. När koncentrationen av mangan är högre blir granater och även epidot och olivin vanligare, speciellt närmare vulkaniska bergarter.

Oxidation developed from the surfaces into the cores of the microwaved particles. Metallic particles were also formed during microwave exposure. Lihir gold ore, in which gold was finely disseminated in pyrite and marcasite, was an extremely refractory gold ore. Without pretreatment, only 37-39% of the gold could be extracted with sodium cyanide. However, this was improved after the head ores or floatation concentrates were pretreated by microwave radiation. 74.581.2% of the gold was extracted from the microwave treated head ore. The hydrometallurgical pretreatment of pyrite and marcasite in a microwave field and a conventional heating environment was also investigated.I,n a nitric acid solution, pyrite and marcasite can be rapidly leached. Reaction temperature and the concentration of HNO3 had a significant influence on decomposition rate. Marcasite had a substantially higher i decomposition rate than pyrite. Microwave heating could promote the dissociation of marcasite and pyrite, compared with conventional heating. This was caused by special volumetric heating during microwave exposure that may induce local overheating or improve the interactions between the high dielectric loss minerals and the leaching solution. Kinetic investigations show that the decomposition of both the minerals in a nitric acid medium is controlled by chemical reactions on the surfaces of particles. The decomposition is a second order reaction with respect to nitric acid concentration. Less than 5- 7% of the decomposed sulphur was transformed into elemental sulphur during the leaching of both the minerals

A family of top-down statistical models describing energy consumption in the mining, milling, and refining of uranium are formulated. The purpose of the models is to estimate the energy-to-grade dependence for uranium extraction, while defining a minimum grade that can be feasibly mined and produced. The results serve as a basis for understanding the factors governing energy consumption in the production of U3O8. The models are applied to a considerably larger data set of operating mines than in any previous effort. In addition, the validity of the modeling approach is established by modeling energy for two other commodities, gold and copper, thereby showing it can be applied to other metals. Statistical measures of explanatory power show that the models the energy-to-grade relationship is well-described for both uranium and gold. For copper, there was insufficient data over a broad range of ore grades to obtain a model that passed statistical confidence measures. The results show that mining of lower-grade deposits of uranium is likely to be less energy-intensive than previous investigators concluded. It is shown that the uncertainty in the results is dominated by the contribution of the grade-independent component of energy consumption. / text

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