How to Make Lead from Galena Concentrates
Objective Provide an environmentally compatible means of producing lead from galena concentrates that replaces the current high-temperature pyrometallurgical primary lead smelting process and supplies pure lead metal within present and proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) lead emission standards. Approach The U.S. Bureau of Mines developed an energy efficient […]
Zeta Potential
A novel technique has been employed by the U. S. Bureau of Mines to determine the zeta potential of particles for a far-reaching series of material types in a wide variety of baseline waters, both alone and with many different chemical additives. The materials tested ranged from naturally occurring Sioux Quartzite and Tennessee marble to […]
Cobalt Beneficiation Technique
Objective Develop new technolgies and techniques which enable recovery of strategic and critical minerals such as cobalt from domestic resources, thereby easing the U.S. dependence upon foreign producers for these valuable commodities. Approach The Bureau of Mines, through research, developed a process which uses mineral beneficiation techniques to recover cobalt-rich products from Missouri lead ores. […]
How to Predict Electric Motor Failures
A system capable of monitoring a mine electrical power system to detect incipient electrical component failure could significantly improve power system safety and availability. The U.S. Bureau of Mines funded a contract with The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) to establish the theoretical and technical framework for such a system. This report briefly outlines the […]
Gravity Recovery -500 Mesh Particles in Jig
The packed jig is a column filled with corrugated diagonal packing. A slurry of mixed particles, the ore, is fed into the middle of the column. Water enters the column near the bottom as both a steady state and a pulsating flow. The pulsating water sets up a jigging action that interacts with the packing […]
Ore Cutoff Grade Optimisation
We will discuss the fundamental elements of cutoff grade optimization and demonstrate how cutoff grade optimization may improve NPV of a given operation under different scenarios. The first case study is a description of cutoff grade optimization for a gold deposit to be mined in a single push-back with a small mill capacity. The second […]
Heap Bio-oxidation of Sulfide Concentrates
Low-cost oxidation pretreatment technologies are needed in order to economically extract precious metals from refractory sulfidic deposits as the world’s free-milling reserves are consumed. Already, more than one-third of the gold ore reserves in the United States are considered to be refractory. Many of the deeper gold deposits that are currently being discovered, including deeper […]
Laboratory Continuous Dynamic Thickening Tests
Dynamic tests were conducted in a laboratory continuous thickening system. This system, shown in Figure 1, consists of a 3½ in. (89 mm) ID and 20 in. (508 mm) height lab thickener/clarifier equipped with feed, polymer and underflow pumps, bed level sensor and controller. Rake speed, the gap between the deflector plate and feed pipe, […]
How to Remove Soluble Manganese
The granular media used for the study of soluble manganese removal included natural manganese oxide ore. The manganese oxide ore of South Africa origin obtained from Elkem Company (Marietta, OH) was used as the medium for soluble manganese removal. The raw manganese oxide ore sample was crushed and ground into particles of 1.0-0.425 mm (-No. […]
What is Zeolite used for
However, in a number of applications, natural zeolites have inherent advantages, not the least of which is that natural zeolites cost much less than the synthetics. Fish and Shellfish Farming: Clinoptilolite (clino) can remove ammonia in aquaculture ponds and tanks. Clino has been successfully used in biofilters, regenerable ion exchange beds and pressure filters; and […]