Flotation

A process used to separate particulate solids, which have been suspended in a fluid,

by selectively attaching the particles to be removed to a light fluid and allowing this mineralized fluid

aggregation to rise to where it can be removed. The principal use of the process is to separate valuable

minerals from waste rock, or gangue, in which case the ground ore is suspended in water and, after

chemical treatment, subjected to bubbles of air. The minerals which are to be floated attach to the air

bubbles, rise through the suspension, and are removed with the froth which forms on top of the pulp.

Although most materials subjected to flotation are minerals, applications to chemical and biological

materials have been reported.

Magnetic Separation

Magnetic separation utilizes the force exerted by a magnetic field upon magnetic materials to

counteract partially or wholly the effect of gravity. Thus under the action of these two forces, different

paths are produced for the magnetic and nonmagnetic particles.

Jigging

In the process called jigging, a water stream is pulsed, or moved by pistons upward and
downward, through the material bed. Under the influence of this oscillating motion, the bed is
separated into layers of different densities, the heaviest concentrate forming the lowest layer
and the lightest product the highest. Important to this process is a thorough classification of the
feed, since particles less than one millimetre in size cannot be separated by jigging.

Sluicing

The process of moving the slurry is called sluicing. Educing is the process of introducing the
slurry into an enclosed circuit. In the hydraulic mining of gold the rebounding stream of water
and mineral fragments is directed into sluices in which the gold settles behind baffles but the
lighter waste matter is washed away. In hydraulic mining of coal the water simply breaks the
coal from the seam and washes it to a collecting point.

Panning

Panning, in mining, simple method of separating particles of greater specific

gravity (especially gold) from soil or gravels by washing in a pan with water. Panning is one of
the principal techniques of the individual prospector for recovering gold
and diamonds in placer (alluvial) deposits.
The typical pan is a light but rugged circular metal dish with a flat bottom and sides that slope
out at about 45°. Its inner surface must be smooth and free from grease and rust. In panning for
gold from streams, the pan is first filled halfway or so with gravel, soil, and rocks from places
where the current is slower (such as downstream of boulders or on the inner side of bends in
the stream). The pan is then immersed in the water, and the mixture is thoroughly wetted and
stirred. Lumps of clay are broken up, and large stones are picked out. The pan, still under water,
is then given a combination shaking and gyratory motion. This allows the heavy particles to
settle and brings the lighter material to the surface. At intervals the pan is tilted, and the light
surface material is washed off. This process is continued until only heavy “black sands” (such
as ilmenite, magnetite, and pyrite) and gold remain. The material is dried and the gold
removed (perhaps after using a magnet to remove some of the black sand). Panning is slow,
backbreaking work, but in experienced hands there is little or no loss of gold. See also placer
mining.

Tabling

Gravity concentration on inclined planes is carried out on shaking tables, which can be
smoothed or grooved and which are vibrated back and forth at right angles to the flow of water.
As the pulp flows down the incline, the ground material is stratified into heavy and light layers in
the water; in addition, under the influence of the vibration, the particles are separated in the
impact direction. Shaking tables are often used for concentrating finely grained ores of tin,
tungsten, niobium, and tantalum.

Electrostatic Separation

ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION is defined as "the selective sorting of solid species by means of

utilizing forces acting on charged or polarized bodies in an electric field. Separation is effected by
adjusting the electric and coacting forces, such as gravity or centrifugal force, and the different
trajectories at some predetermined time. Separations made in air are called Electrostatic Separation.
Separations made using a corona discharge device, are called High Tension Separations. Separations
made in liquids are termed separation by Dielectrophesis, and if motion is due to polarization effects in
nonuniform electric fields. Electrophoresis is when separations are made if motion is due to a free charge
on the species in an electric field. There are no industrial applications of mineral concentrations by
electrophoresis of dielectrophesis." 1

Electrostatic separation is important in the production of minerals, also in the reclamation of other
valuable materials, as well as the cleaning of some food products. When every effort is being made by
Process Engineers to make use of all concentrating equipment available for the recovery of critical
minerals and reclaimed materials, the subject of applied electrostatic separation is of interest. Refer to
Fig.2, for a diagram of how standard electrostatic separators function.

Dense Medium Separation

Dense medium separation (or heavy medium separation (HMS), or the sink-and-float process) is
applied to the pre-concentration of minerals, i.e. the rejection of gangue prior to grinding for final
liberation. It is also used in coal preparation to produce a commercially graded end-product, clean
coal being separated from the heavier shale or high-ash coal.

In principle, it is the simplest of all gravity processes and has long been a standard laboratory
method for separating minerals of different specific gravity. Heavy liquids of suitable density are
used, so that those minerals lighter than the liquid float, while those denser than it sink (Figure

Since most of the liquids used in the laboratory are expensive or toxic, the dense medium used in
industrial separations is a thick suspension, or pulp, of some heavy solid in water, which behaves as
a heavy liquid.

Heap Leaching
Heap leaching is an industrial mining process used to extract precious
metals, copper, uranium, and other compounds from ore using a series of chemical reactions
that absorb specific minerals and re-separate them after their division from other earth materials. Similar
to in situ mining, heap leach mining differs in that it places ore on a liner, then adds the chemicals via drip
systems to the ore, whereas in situ mining lacks these liners and pulls pregnant solution up to obtain the
minerals. Most mining companies favor the economic feasibility of heap leaching, considering that heap
leaching is a better alternative to conventional processing methods such as such as flotation, agitation, and
vat leaching.

Dump leaching

dump leaching is an essential part of most copper mining operations and determines the quality grade
of the produced material along with other factors. Due to the profitability that the dump leaching has on
the mining process, i.e. it can contribute substantially to the economic viability of the mining
process, it is advantageous to include the results of the leaching operation in the economic overall project
evaluation. This, in effect, requires that the key controllable variables, which have an effect on the
recovery of the metal and the quality of solution coming from a dump leaching process.
Vat Leaching

cyanidation is accomplished by vat leaching, which involves holding a slurry of ore and solvent
for several hours in large tanks equipped with agitators. For extracting gold from low-grade
ores, heap leaching is practiced. The huge heaps described above are sprayed with a dilute
solution of sodium cyanide, and this percolates down through the piled ore, dissolving the
gold.
Immense amounts of solution and solids are associated with a vat leaching circuit, owing to the
very low concentrations of gold in the ores. In order to eliminate the huge capital costs
associated with the purchase and installation of solids/liquids separation equipment, techniques
have been developed that circumvent the entire separation process. One of these is the
addition of granular activated carbon to the ore slurry during or upon completion of gold
solubilization. The dissolved gold is readily adsorbed onto the carbon, thus removing it from
solution, and the granular carbon is separated from the now barren ore by running the slurry
through a screen. Gold is then leached from the carbon particles by a strong solution of sodium
cyanide and sodium hydroxide, and it is recovered from solution by electrowinning directly onto
steel wool or by the Merrill-Crowe process. In the latter process, the gold-bearing solution is
deoxygenated and passed through a filter-press, where the gold is displaced from solution by
reduction with zinc metal powder.

High Pressure Acid Leach

The HPAL process works as follows: ore is mined and crushed to create a fine material. These
fines are mixed with water to create a slurry which is then preheated. This hot slurry is pumped
into an autoclave (a giant pressure cooker of sorts) where acid is added. The slurry and acid
then react as they flow through several compartments within the autoclave. The slurry takes
approximately 60 minutes to complete the leaching process in the autoclave. Upon leaving the
high pressure and temperature atmosphere of the autoclave the slurry must be returned
to atmospheric conditions. This is accomplished through two or more letdown/flash stages.
Once the slurry is at atmospheric conditions it is washed and separated at which point the nickel
and cobalt can be recovered from the liquid fraction.
High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) is a process used to extract nickel and
cobalt from laterite ore bodies. The HPAL process utilizes elevated
temperatures (roughly 255 degrees Celsius), elevated pressures (roughly
50 bar or 725 psi), and sulfuric acid to separate nickel and cobalt from
the laterite ore.

HPAL has been used since 1961 when it was first put into commercial
production at Moa Bay, Cuba. It has subsequently increased in use since
that time.

Solvent Extraction and Electrowinning

Solvent extraction and electrowinning (SX/EW) is a two-stage hydrometallurgical process

that first extracts and upgrades copper ions from low-grade leach solutions into
a solvent containing a chemical that selectively reacts with and binds the copper in the solvent.
The copper is extracted from the solvent with strong aqueous acid which then deposits pure copper
onto cathodes using an electrolytic procedure (electrowinning).
SX/EW processing is best known for its use by the copper industry, where it accounts for 20% of
worldwide production, but the technology is also successfully applied to a wide range of other
metals including cobalt, nickel, zinc and uranium