Mining and Beneficiation

Underground mining. Extraction of tin from hard rock lode veins requires common techniques used in nonferrous metal mining. In some exceptional cases, depths of 1 km can be attained. Most of the time, the technique required depends on the thickness, shape, and orientation of the orebody and geological factors. 

Whatever the mining technique used, the final tin concentrate contains between 30 and 77wt.% Sn, the latter corresponding to concentrates from placer deposits, and consists mainly of pure cassiterite. 

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Fig. 1. Typical processes and products of a titanium beach-sand mining and beneficiating operation (4).

The production of aluminum begins with the mining and beneficiation of bauxite. At the mine (usually of the surface type), bauxite ore is removed to a crusher. The crushed ore is then screened and stockpiled, ready for delivery to an alumina plant. In some cases, ore is upgraded by beneficiation (washing, size classification, and separation of liquids and solids) to remove unwanted materials such as clay and silica. 

Occasionally, the phosphate slime is difficult to settle in the lagoons because of its true colloidal nature, and the use of calcium sulfate or other electrolytes can promote coagulation, agglomeration, and settling of the particles. Usually an addition of calcium sulfate is unnecessary, because it is present in the wastewater from the sand-flotation process. Generally, it has been shown [33] that the clear effluent from the phosphate mining and beneficiation operation is not deleterious to fish life, but the occurrence of a dam break may result in adverse effects [19]. 

A generic scheme for mining and benefici-ating central Florida phosphate ore is presented in Fig. 23.5 as a block flow diagram. 

Essentially all fertilizer phosphorus now is derived from mined ores. (The occurrence, mineral characteristics, mining, and benefici-ation of major phosphate ores were described in some detail in Chapter 23.) Worldwide, about 85 percent of the mined phosphate eventually finds its way into fertilizer.3 As mentioned earlier, the most conservative estimates indicate a sufficiency for hundreds of years at expected consumption levels. Supply problems of the immediate future will relate chiefly to exhaustion of the better ores, with the result that ores of lower grades and higher impurity contents will have to be processed. 

Lehr, J. R., and McClellan, G. H., Phosphate Rocks Important Factors in Their Economic and Technical Evaluation, CENTO Symposium on the Mining and Beneficiation of Fertilizer Minerals, pp. 192-242, November 19-24, 1973. 

YuGOK stands for South Mining and Beneficiating Combine, TsGOK for Central Mining and Beneficiating Combine. 

Because of the abundance of O, Si, and A1 in the earth s crust, it is not surprising that there exist numerous deposits of the sillimanite minerals worldwide. However, the qualities, or grades, of most of these deposits are not amenable to large-scale commercial mining and beneficiation. Many are just small quarrying operations. For those reasons, only a few of the major worldwide deposits will be noted. The text by Varley [2] has an excellent summation of the deposits worldwide, while Chang [1] addresses the mineral processing and beneficiation quite well. 

Esterle, J.S. 2005. Mining and beneficiation. In Applied Coal Petrology The Role of Petrology in Coal Utilization, 1. Suarez-Ruiz and J. Crelling (Eds.). Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Chapter 3. Euler, W.J. 1981. In Coal Handbook, R.A. Meyers (Ed.). Marcel Dekker, New York, Chapter 3. 

ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATIONS DURING CLAY MINING AND BENEFICIATION... 

Environmental Degradations During Clay Mining and Beneficiation 265... 

Waste and sludge from phosphate mining and beneficiation Mining wastes from uranium and other minerals Household wastes... 

In nature, the raw materials for ceramics occur in the form of minerals. The minerals are mined and beneficiated. These minerals usually contain oxides as their major constituents. If other types of ceramics, such as carbides, nitrides, or borides, are needed, then they are to be synthesized. 

Industrial sectors such as Coal Industry, Iron Ore Mining and Beneficiation, Carbon Black, Ferrous Foundries, and Other Petroleum and Coal Products were included in the Other Industries sector to protect the confidentiality of the information. 

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