Topic 3: Ore processing and metal recovery

From a series of 5 lectures on

Metals, minerals, mining and (some of) its problems
prepared for London Mining Network
by
Mark Muller
mmuller.earthsci@gmail.com
24 April 2009

Outline of Topic 3:
Mineral processing (beneficiation) to produce concentrate:
grinding, milling, separation
Metallurgical extraction of metals: focus on hydrometallurgy (leaching)
Focus on heap leaching of gold using cyanide solutions
Dump leaching
Heap leaching methods
Cyanidation wastes and risks
Remediation of cyanidation wastes
Artisanal processing of gold ore with mercury

Mineral extraction: from mining to metal

Mining
Mineral processing
(beneficiation)

Mineral
concentrate

Metallurgical extraction
METAL EXTRACTION

Metal

Figure from Spitz and Trudinger, 2009.

Mineral processing and metallurgical extraction:

These are the two activities of the mining industry that follow its first
principal activity, mining, that liberates the orebody from the ground:
Mineral processing (or beneficiation or ore-dressing) aims to physically
separate and concentrate the ore mineral(s) from the ore-rock. Ore
concentrate is often the final product delivered by mines.
Metallurgical extraction aims to break-down the concentrated ore
minerals in order to recover the desired metal or compound.
Metallurgical extraction often takes place at localities separate or
remote from mine sites.
Heap leaching is an alternative approach that short-circuits more
extended processing and metallurgical extraction routes by moving
directly from coarse crushing of the orebody to hydrometallurgical
(chemical) extraction of the target metal. It generally occurs on the
mine site.

1. Ore crushing
A wide range of crushing machines are used: for example jaw crushers,
gyratory crushers, and vertical or horizontal shaft impact crushers.
Crushing is highly energy intensive and is often the most expensive phase
of mineral beneficiation.
Horizontal Shaft Impact
Crusher

http://www.rock-mining.com/5-Impac
t-Crusher.html

Cone Crusher

http://www.rock-mining.com/8Cone-Crusher.html

Schematic of a jaw
crusher. Credit: Anatoly
Verevkin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik
i/File:Scheme_Jaw_Crusher.g
if

2. Grinding (milling):
Grinding is done in grinding machinery in the presence of water and
therefore generates tailings.
The final particle size that emerges from grinding will depend on the
requirements of the subsequent mineral separation stage (1 cm
0.001 mm)

Ball mill for grinding rock materials into fine

powder. Rock fragments are loaded into the
barrel that contains a grinding medium (e.g., steel
balls). As the barrel rotates, the rock material is
crushed by the grinding medium producing a
fine powder over a period of several hours. The
longer the ball mill runs, the finer the powder will
be.
http://www.traderscity.com/board/products-1/offers-to-sell-and-export-1/ball-mill-grinder-crusherpulverizer-sand-making-machine-28192/

3. Mineral separation and concentration

The target mineral is separated from gangue and un-wanted metallic
minerals using processes that take advantage of the target minerals
unique physical characteristics (e.g., its density and magnetic
properties).

Distillation
Ore

Water

Crushing
and sizing

Grinding
and
milling

Magnetic
separation
Electrostatic
separation
Gravity
separation

Mineral
concentrate

Process chemicals
Flotation

Figure modified after

Ripley et al. (1996), Lottermoser (2007).

Selective
dissolution

Tailings
and mine
waters

Simplified flow-chart
of a mineral
processing operation.
More than one mineral
separation method may
be used in succession
in the processing route
if necessary.

Common flotation reagents, modifiers, flocculants, coagulants,

hydrometallurgical reagents, and oxidants used in mineral separation.

Table from Lottermoser, 2007, using references therein.

(a terrible cocktail!)

4. Thickening. Thickening is achieved by allowing solids in the mineral

concentrate slurries to settle at the bottom of cylindrical tanks (called
thickeners), where they are scraped away to a discharge outlet by
rotating rakes.
5. Drying. Complete dewatering of the thickened mineral concentrate is in
achieved in disk, drum or vacuum filters to produce a final, dry mineral
concentrate product.

Typical thickener tanks used to

remove fluids from mineralconcentrate slurries.

http://www.flsmidthminerals.com/Products/Sedimentation/Clarifiers+an
d+Thickeners/Clarifiers+and+Thickeners.htm

Mineral extraction: from mining to metal

Mining
Mineral processing
(beneficiation)

Mineral
concentrate

Metallurgical extraction
METAL EXTRACTION

Metal

Figure from Spitz and Trudinger, 2009.

Metallurgical extraction:
There are three metallurgical processing methods to liberate target
metals.
Pyrometallurgy: Breakdown of the mineral crystalline structure by heat in
furnaces.
Electrometallurgy: The electrochemical effect of an electric current is used
to extract metals from ore-concentrate (electrowinning).
Hydrometallurgy: Solvents are used to dissolve minerals and produce a
liquid with high concentrations of the target metal. Very often performed at
the mine-site, with accumulation of associated wastes on site.

Hydrometallurgy - vat leaching:

Vat leaching is a high-production rate metal extraction process carried out
in a system of closed vats or tanks using concentrated leaching
solutions (solvents).
Either Sulphuric acid or ammonium carbonate (an alkali) is used to extract
metals from copper oxide and uranium oxide ores. Alkaline cyanide
solutions are used to extract gold from ores.
Because the ores are finely ground (unlike heap-leaching), large
quantities of fine tailings are produced and require storage in
tailings dams. The tailings will be acidic in the case of copper
processing and alkaline in the case of gold processing.

Dump leaching:
Most commonly used in the copper industry. The dump in dump leaching
generally refers to old waste rock dumps that have been identified
for reprocessing.
There is therefore no lining present under the dump.
Sulphuric acid is the main leach solution for recovering copper from copper
ores. On some mines leachate from rainwater percolating through the
dump is recovered (essentially recovered acid mine drainage!).
Environmental problems: acidic groundwater and surface water.

Heap leaching:
Heap leaching is a process commonly used for the recovery of precious
metals (gold and silver), and less commonly for base metals and
uranium, from amenable, oxidised low-grade ores, or occasionally
from previously processed tailings.
Amenable ores are oxidised. If not, oxidising bacteria may be used
first to decompose sulphide minerals to facilitate the leaching
process.
No fine tailings are generated by heap leaching probably its single
most important advantage over conventional vat leaching.

Heap leaching applied to gold recovery using cyanide

Expanded pad heap configuration: old heaps are left in place, and new heaps are placed ahead.

Sodium cyanide (NaCN)

plus lime (to increase
alkalinity)

Gold, Au,
recovered from NaAu(CN)2

Completed (barren) leach heaps

Liner

Liner

Oxidised gold bearing ore

Figure modified from
Spitz and Trudinger,
2009.

Gold-cyanide complex NaAu(CN)2

and caustic soda (lye) NaOH

4 Au + 8 NaCN
Gold
(solid)

Sodium cyanide
(dissolved)

O2 +
Oxygen
(gas)

H 2O
Water
(liquid)

4 NaAu(CN)2

Gold-cyanide complex
(dissolved)

4 NaOH
Sodium-hydroxide
(dissolved)

Heap-leach piles
www.airphotona.com

Air-photo of a field of expanding heap pads, locality unknown (figure from

Spitz and Trudinger, 2009).

Heap leaching rinsing:

After leaching is complete, barren heaps are rinsed with water, or may be
allowed to rinse naturally in high rainfall areas. Generally eight pore
volume displacements will remove all but the smallest trace of
reagent (Hutchison and Ellison, 1992).
Oxidising agents such as hypochlorite, peroxide, or specially bred strains
of reagent-destroying bacteria may be added to the rinse solution.

Oxidising agents are used to convert toxic cyanide complexes to

significantly less harmful cyanates.

Heap-leach pad configurations

Expanded pad heap configuration shown in a previous slide

Valley pad system

Barricks Pierina Mine, Peru uses heap

leaching with a valley-pad configuration to
extract gold and silver.
Production costs in 1999 were US$ 50 per
ounce of gold, making it the worlds
lowest-cost major gold mine.

Reusable pad system

There is some risk of damaging the liner

in the case of the reusable pad system,
as spent heaps are recovered and new
heaps are put in place.
Figures from Spitz and Trudinger, 2009.

Heap leaching operations

Large valley-pad heapleach piles at the
Yanacocha gold mine,
Peru. The siliceous ore
is so porous it can be
leached without
crushing.

Photo: P. Williams

Cyanide heap-leach pile and plastic lined

leachate collection ponds, Wirralee gold
mine, Australia.
Pictures from Lottermoser, 2007.

Heap-leach pad liner systems

A geomembrane is normally a
plastic liner made from
polyethylene or polyvinyl
chloride (PVC).

A geoweb is a flexible
framework mesh, often
made out polyethylene, and
used to stabilize layers of
granular material.

From: Presto Geosystems

www.prestogeo.com
Figure from Hartman and Mutmansky, 2002.

Heap leaching processing oxidised or sulphide ore:

Cyanide solutions react with gold and silver.
Cyanide solutions do not react with oxide minerals.
Cyanide solutions do react with sulphide minerals.
If ore in the leach heap is contains oxide minerals or is oxidised, the
process produces:
gold and silver complexes (which is the target)
free cynide (CN-) and cyanide gas (HCN) by products
If ore in the leach heap contains sulphide minerals, the process
produces:

gold and silver complexes (which is the target)

free cynide (CN-) and cyanide gas (HCN) by products

a cocktail of other metallic cyanide complexes

(bad news!)

Cyanide compounds and metal complexes

LESS
STABLE

VERY TOXIC

In remediation seek either to

WAD
cyanide
(weak acid
dissociable)

Move complexes up the chain to less

stable compounds and ultimately HCN
gas
or
Move down the chain to precipitate
stable strong complexes or thiocyanate
and cyanate.

MORE
STABLE

LESS TOXIC

Table from Lottermoser, 2007. See also Environment Australia, 1998.

Heap leaching impacts during the leaching process:

Potential serious risks include:

Leakage of pregnant cyanide solution through pad or pond liners

- contaminates the underlying groundwater.

Discharge from over-topping of the solution ponds

(due to excess water, pump failure, or physical damage to the ponds)
- contaminates downstream surface water and/or groundwater.

Heap leaching operations are less commonly carried out in highrainfall areas because of problems in managing the large volumes of
rainwater entering the system via leach heaps
- exceptions Philippines and Indonesia.

Cyanidation wastes remediation:

Cyanide wastes are found in old heaps, tailings and mine waters.
Cyanide and cyanide complexes will eventually break down
naturally, at varying rates, that depend on water pH, temperature,
salinity, concentration of the complexes, oxidant concentration and the
intensity of UV radiation (Lottermoser, 2007).
Remediation measures to attenuate (destroy) cyanide are based on

Accelerating natural processes,

Specifically engineered processes.

Cyanide attenuation and waste remediation (old heaps, tailings, waters)

Treatment of cyanide waste is primarily about converting dissolved free cyanide and cyanide
complexes into less harmful compounds or compounds that disperse more easily in nature.

ADD W
ATER

S
NT
DA
I
X
DO
AD

AL
ET
M
D N)
AD RO
(I

Oxidation to cyanate. Dissolved

free cyanide can be oxidised to
less harmful cyanate by adding
ozone, gaseous chlorine,
hypochlorite or hydrogen
peroxide. Cyanate in turn slowly
decomposes to form nitrate and
carbon dioxide or ammonia and
bicarbonate
Formation of thiocyanate (SCN-).
Oxidation of sulphide minerals in
tailings or heaps will yield sulphur
bearing products. Free cyanide
reacts with these sulphur forms to
produce less harmful thiocyanate.

Biological oxidation. Bacteria

degrade cyanide into harmless
by-products dissolved
formate, nitrate, ammonia,
bicarbonate, and sulphate.
Bacterial action encouraged by
adding bacteria or nutrients to
waters.

IA
ER TS
T
C
N
BA RIE
D
T
AD NU
OR

SUNLIGHT

Volatilisation: Conversion of
free cyanide to hydrogen
cyanide gas (HCN). Reducing
pH of waters encourages
release of HCN. The gas
disperses or converts to
ammonium and carbon dioxide.

Photolitic degradation: In the

presence of UV radiation from
the sun, strong cyanide
complexes break down to form
free cyanide, which in turn
breaks down under UV radiation
to form the less harmful
cyanate ion.

Precipitation: Conversion of cyanide

complexes to stable solids that settle
out of water achieved by adding metals
(often iron) to waters.

Cyanide remediation using UV radiation

< 1 mg/liter

Total cyanide
300 mg/liter

Cyanide-bearing seepage waters are collected at the base of a tailings dam, Red
Dome gold mine, Australia. UV radiation causes the destruction of dissolved copper
cyanide complexes and the precipitation of cyanate salts. Total cyanide is attenuated
from 300 mg/l to less than 1 mg/l in successive ponds. From Lottermoser, 2007.

Mining-related cyanide accidents and spillages since 1990

Spillage of cyanide into the

environment has generally
occurred through:

Table from Lottermoser, 2007.

accidents during transport

of (solid) sodium cyanide
(NaCN) to the mine site, or

release of tailings material

from tailings dam that failed,
or were overtopped, either
through operational error
and/or high rainfall.

Artisanal processing of alluvial gold deposits:

Small scale artisanal mining (i.e., not using modern technology) has been
estimated to account for 15 to 20% of the worlds non-fuel mineral
production. The industry is highly labour intensive and employs 11.5
to 13 million people worldwide (Kafwembe and Veasey, 2001).
Mercury is used to recover gold (and silver) from alluvial deposits
using the processes of agglutination and amalgamation. The
mercury process has been used since the 1970s in many developing
countries.

In Latin America, for example, over 1 million people are directly involved
in artisanal gold mining, recovering between 115 190 tons/year of
gold, while releasing more than 200 tons/year of mercury into the
environment (Veiga, 1997).

Artisanal processing of alluvial gold deposits (continued):

Mercury release into the Amazon. The Brazilian Amazon basin has
become the site of a major gold-rush, starting in the early 1980s.
Several hundred thousand men have recovered thousands of tons of
alluvial gold from river banks and beds, subsequently processed using
agglutination and amalgamation.
Nearly 3,000 tons of mercury have been released into the Amazon
environment in the last 15 years.
Toxicity. Miners, gold-dealers, residents, fishermen are all exposed to
the risk of direct exposure to toxic mercury concentrations,
through vapour inhalation, or through contact with mercury films
deposited on the insides and outsides of buildings, and on household
utensils and foodstuffs.

Artisanal processing of alluvial gold deposits

Artisanal gold mining, Manso Atwere

Ghana, 2007. (Photo: African Gold Group).
http://www.africangoldgroup.com/i/photos/ghan
a/Manso-Atwere-Ghana,-2007.jpg

Ore washing, Manso Atwere, Ghana.

(Photo: African Gold Group).
http://www.africangoldgroup.com/i/photos/
ghana/Manso-Atwere-ore-washing.jpg

AGGLUTINATION
Carpet to concentrate gold (Photo: UNIDO,
2004). The figure caption in the original
source is unclear, but the carpet is probably
impregnated with mercury to concentrate
gold by agglutination.

Artisanal processing of alluvial gold deposits

An artisanal gold miner
holds mercury amalgam
in her palm. Senegal.
(Photo: Blacksmith
Institute).
http://www.worstpolluted.or
g/projects_reports/display/56

BURN-OFF

AMALGAMATION

Home-made retort,
made of water pipes
(Photo from UNIDO,
2004). Retorts allow
the safe burn-off and
capture of mercury
from amalgam, but
their use is often met
with resistance from
miners.

Condensed mercury
emerges from here for
collection.

Amalgam placed
inside crucible
here for burning.

Typical burn-off of mercury

from amalgam, Thailand.
(Photo: Blacksmith Institute).
http://www.worstpolluted.org/pro
jects_reports/display/56