Physical mineral separation

Provided that the physical properties of the minerals contained in the particulate ore are significantly different, the particles of distinct mineralogical compositions can be separated physically to achieve a mineral separation. Particles that consist predominantly of valuable mineral(s) will report to the concentrate under the influence of the exploited physical force, but will dilute... 

To fully understand the physical-chemical basis of flotation in these systems so that new flotation procedures might be developed to make other appropriate mineral separations, extensive research in applied surface chemistry is required. 

Most alkaloids are basic and they are thus generally separated from accompanying neutrals and acids by dilute mineral acid extraction. The physical... 

Froth flotation (qv) is a significant use of foam for physical separations. It is used to separate the more precious minerals from the waste rock extracted from mines. This method reHes on the different wetting properties typical for the different extracts. Usually, the waste rock is preferentially wet by water, whereas the more valuable minerals are typically hydrophobic. Thus the mixture of the two powders are immersed in water containing foam promoters. Also added are modifiers which help ensure that the surface of the waste rock is hydrophilic. Upon formation of a foam by bubbling air and by agitation, the waste rock remains in the water while the minerals go to the surface of the bubbles, and are entrapped in the foam. The foam rises, bringing... 

Although the size separation/classification methods are adequate in some cases to produce a final saleable mineral product, in a vast majority of cases these produce Httle separation of valuable minerals from gangue. Minerals can be separated from one another based on both physical and chemical properties (Fig. 8). Physical properties utilized in concentration include specific gravity, magnetic susceptibility, electrical conductivity, color, surface reflectance, and radioactivity level. Among the chemical properties, those of particle surfaces have been exploited in physico-chemical concentration methods such as flotation and flocculation. The main objective of concentration is to separate the valuable minerals into a small, concentrated mass which can be treated further to produce final mineral products. In some cases, these methods also produce a saleable product, especially in the case of industrial minerals. 

The treatments used to recover nickel from its sulfide and lateritic ores differ considerably because of the differing physical characteristics of the two ore types. The sulfide ores, in which the nickel, iron, and copper occur in a physical mixture as distinct minerals, are amenable to initial concentration by mechanical methods, eg, flotation (qv) and magnetic separation (see SEPARATION,MAGNETIC). The lateritic ores are not susceptible to these physical processes of beneficiation, and chemical means must be used to extract the nickel. The nickel concentration processes that have been developed are not as effective for the lateritic ores as for the sulfide ores (see also Metallurgy, extractive Minerals recovery and processing). 

Pieces of coal are mixtures of materials somewhat randomly distributed in differing amounts. The mineral matter can be readily distinguished from the organic, which is itself a mixture. Coal properties reflect the individual constituents and the relative proportions. By analogy to geologic formations, the macerals are the constituents that correspond to minerals that make up individual rocks. For coals, macerals, which tend to be consistent in their properties, represent particular classes of plant parts that have been transformed into coal (40). Most detailed chemical and physical studies of coal have been made on macerals or samples rich in a particular maceral, because maceral separation is time consuming. 

Various techniques are available to separate the different types of particles that may be present in a sohd mixture. The choice depends on the physicochemical nature of the sohds and on site-specific considerations (for example, wet versus diy methods). A key consideration is the extent of the liberation of the individual particles to be separated. Particles attached to each other obviously cannot be separated by direct mechanical means except after the attachment has been broken. In ore processing, the mineral values are generally liberated by size reduction (see Sec. 20). Rarely is liberation complete at any one size, and a physical-separation flow sheet wih incorporate a sequence of operations that often are designed first to rejec t as much... 

If the ore consists of separate grains containing the desired material, it can be separated from undesired minerals by physical methods such as flotation, sedimentation, or magnetic separation. For metals this step can lead to 80 to 95 percent concentration of the value of the ore. Ceramic raw materials such as sand and clay can often be found pure enough in nature so that no concentration is needed. 

The question arises whether an internal standard can be relied upon to eliminate physical differences among samples, the Class II deviations of Section 7.8. No clear answer is possible. Variations in intensity ratios with particle size and with length of grinding time have been observed, especially in the analysis of minerals, but these effects seem due primarily to a nonuniform distribution of the internal standard, and not to particle size as such. These two possible causes of nonuniformity are difficult to separate. 

Physical separation of granulometric fractions by sedimentation and ultracentrifugation could also help in constraining weathering rates at local scale. The fine fractions are useful when they exclusively contain secondary minerals, that is, when they are not polluted by... 

All minerals in some way or the other are influenced by an external magnetic field although the degree of this response varies widely. Based on different response of different minerals in external magnetic field minerals have been classified into different groups that have essentially to development of an important physical separation method called magnetic separation which has been described quite in detail in the next chapter on mineral processing. Present topic is, therefore, not pursued any further. 

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