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Underground soft rock mining
Published in A.J.S. (Sam) Spearing, Liqiang Ma, Cong-An Ma, Mine Design, Planning and Sustainable Exploitation in the Digital Age, 2023
A.J.S. (Sam) Spearing, Liqiang Ma, Cong-An Ma
The general handling method is to discharge and accumulate the gangue on the surface in gangue dumps. Gangue dumps not only occupy land resources but also pollute the air and underground water and even result in potential disasters such as landslides and explosions. On the other hand, high-intensity longwall mining of coal often induces a series of geological and environmental disasters.
Gibbs energy applications to metal production
Published in W. John Rankin, Chemical Thermodynamics, 2019
After an ore has been mined, if the concentration of the desired mineral is small the ore is processed using physical operations to liberate (by crushing and grinding), then separate (by froth flotation or gravity separation, for example) the unwanted waste minerals (gangue) to produce a concentrate with a high concentration of the wanted mineral. This concentrate is then processed chemically to produce metal of the required purity.
The Anatomy of a Mine
Published in Karlheinz Spitz, John Trudinger, Mining and the Environment, 2019
Karlheinz Spitz, John Trudinger
A mineral deposit is a geological anomaly with unusual concentration of formerly diffuse metals. A pure concentration of elements or minerals is rare and valuable minerals are commonly interspersed with unwanted minerals, which are referred to as gangue. Gangue minerals are of no commercial value. Familiar minerals that commonly occur as gangue are silicates, such as quartz, feldspar, and mica, and the carbonate minerals, calcite, dolomite and siderite. Some minerals such as pyrite, can be gangue in some deposits, and target minerals in others. The mixture of minerals and gangue constitute the mineral deposit that generally is enclosed in surrounding host rock of no economic value (Figure 5.2). The transition from the zone of unusual high concentration of elements to host rock with little or no concentration may be sharply defined but is more often gradual.
Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Ultrasound on Lixiviant Ion Migration in In-Situ Recovery Processing
Published in Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review, 2023
Elahe Karami, Laura Kuhar, Andrej Bona, Aleksandar N. Nikoloski
Gold and copper deposits tend to have grades of less than 1 g/t or 0.62%, respectively. Traditional mining methods, such as open pit mining or underground mining, are used to extract ore from these mineral deposits. Conventional mining methods are becoming more challenging, in part because they require physical excavation, which can be extremely energy-intensive and expensive. Gangue minerals must be removed during mining operations, which results in significant waste production. It is also costly to move and store the extracted rocks afterward. As a result, the sustainability of current mining techniques in ore deposits such as gold and copper is declining, which has necessitated the development of new techniques. One alternative option is in-situ recovery (ISR), which involves using a lixiviant solution to remove metals from valuable minerals without rock excavation.
Extraction of lithium from coal gangue by a roasting-leaching process
Published in International Journal of Coal Preparation and Utilization, 2023
Lei Zhang, Hangchao Chen, Jinhe Pan, Fan Yang, Hangtao Liu, Changchun Zhou, Ningning Zhang
The average content of lithium in the world and Chinese coals were around 12.0 ppm and 31.8 ppm, respectively (Dai et al. 2012; Sun et al. 2010). Coal and coal by-products in some specific areas were reported to be enriched in lithium. For example, the content of lithium oxide in the Krylovsk and Verkhne-Bikinsk coal basins located in the Russian Far East is almost 0.22 ~ 0.65% (Seredin et al. 2013). The lithium present in coal is bound predominantly to the aluminosilicates and tends to occur in clay minerals (Liu et al. 2020; Sun et al. 2012; Wang et al. 2015; Zhang et al. 2020a). In the Guanbanwusu mine of the Jungar coalfield (Inner Mongolia, China), the concentration of lithium is 264 ppm on average, and the main modes of occurrence are the absorbed lithium by kaolinite, boehmite, and chlorite (Sun et al. 2012). Coal gangue, the main by-product of coal mining and processing, is mainly composed of clay minerals, such as kaolinite, illite, chlorite, and others, in which lithium may be enriched (Zhang et al. 2020a). At present, coal gangue has become one of the largest industrial solid waste with coal development and caused some environmental problems (Li and Wang 2019). Coal gangue dumps can affect the ecological environment and pollute the surrounding soil and water resources (Dong et al. 2020; Gao et al. 2021). If the coal gangue can be exploited as a source of rare metals including lithium, it will promote the comprehensive development of coal gangue utilization and alleviate related environmental problems.
Zinc recovery from Wulagen sulphide flotation plant tail, Part I: reagent scheme design
Published in Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly, 2022
Xiao Ni, Zhian Liang, Shuiping Zhong, Zilong Ma, Yinfei Liao
Wulagen Pb-Zn mine is located in Ulugqat County, Kashgar City, Xin Jiang, China. It is owned by Zi Jin Zinc Company, a subsidiary of Zi Jin Mining. It is an open pit mine with a capacity of over 15 kt/day. The average grades of Pb and Zn are 0.45% and 2.50%, respectively. Total (Pb + Zn) reserve is over 4 million tons. Major sulphide minerals are sphalerite and galena, and other sulphide minerals are pyrite and chalcopyrite. Major gangue minerals are quartz, and other gangue minerals include calcite, dolomite, sericite, and illite. Sulphide flotation in Wulagen is conventional sequential Pb-Zn flotation with xanthate, pine oil and CuSO4. Pb flotation uses one stage of a rougher and one stage of a scavenger with three stages of cleaning. Zn flotation uses one stage of a rougher and two stages of a scavenger with three stages of cleaning. The flowsheets of comminution and flotation are shown in the following two figures. Overall Zn recovery is about 70% with a concentrate grade of 54%.