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Minerals
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Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy of Sulfide Ores
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Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy of Sulfide Ores

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (25 February 2022) | Viewed by 14095

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Hongbo Zhao

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Guest Editor
School of Minerals Processing & Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
Interests: mineral processing and extractive metallurgy
Prof. Dr. Jiushuai Deng

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Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Separation and Processing of Symbiotic-Associated Mineral Resources in Non-ferrous Metal Industry, National Engineering Laboratory for Efficient Utilization of Indium and Tin Resources (Beijing), School of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, China University of Mining & Technology (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
Interests: mineral engineering; mineral materials; separation and purification; coal flotation; adsorption mechanism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Abhilash

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Guest Editor
CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur 831007, India
Interests: hydro-biohydrometallurgy; critical metal extraction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nonferrous metals play an important role in modern life and industry, and most metals exist as the form of sulfides in the earth. Mineral processing and extractive metallurgy produce metals for industry, mainly including flotation and (bio)hydrometallurgy. Flotation is the main mineral processing/beneficiation technology for processing sulfide ores, which aims at providing qualified concentrates for metallurgy. (Bio)hydrometallurgy is also used as the main extractive metallurgy technology in processing sulfide ores, especially for complex and low-grade sulfide ores. Hence, this Special Issue will focus on recent advances in the mineral processing and extractive metallurgy of sulfide ores, including but not limited to topics such as electrochemistry, surface and interface reaction, fluid inclusion, selective separation mechanisms, separation process intensification, and the design and preparation of reagents. 

Dr. Hongbo Zhao
Prof. Dr. Jiushuai Deng
Dr. Abhilash
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sulfide ores
  • flotation
  • (Bio)hydrometallurgy
  • electrochemistry
  • surface chemistry
  • fluid inclusion
  • selective separation

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 5487 KiB  
Article
A Sustainable Bioleaching of a Low-Grade Chalcopyrite Ore
by Lilian Velásquez-Yévenes, Sebastián Malverde and Víctor Quezada
Minerals 2022, 12(4), 487; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12040487 - 16 Apr 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2234
Abstract
This paper reports on a study of column bioleaching of a low-grade chalcopyrite ore that is currently dump-leached under natural biological conditions without any control over microbial populations. The experimental methodology was focused on the effect of managing the bacterial populations in a [...] Read more.
This paper reports on a study of column bioleaching of a low-grade chalcopyrite ore that is currently dump-leached under natural biological conditions without any control over microbial populations. The experimental methodology was focused on the effect of managing the bacterial populations in a raffinate solution sourced from a dump-leach operation. This study presents results from columns of two heights (0.45 and 1.0 m). We demonstrated that intermittent irrigation enhanced the chalcopyrite dissolution during column leaching, but excessively long rest periods negatively affected the chemical and bacterial activity due to the shortage of oxidizing agents and/or nutrients for microorganisms. The recovery of low-grade chalcopyrite ore was enhanced by increasing the microbial cell density. The addition of 1.5 × 108 cells/mL to the 0.45 m column and 5.0 × 107 cells/mL to the 1 m column resulted in increased extraction, with the copper dissolution increasing from 32% to 44% in the 0.45 m column and from 30% to 40% in the 1.0 m column over 70 days of leaching. Under these conditions, the pH level remained constant at ~1.8, and the redox potential was around 840 mV vs. the SHE throughout the experiment. These results provided useful insights for evaluating a sustainable controlled dump-based technology for mineral bioprocessing. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy of Sulfide Ores)
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19 pages, 5809 KiB  
Article
A Comprehensive Recovery Process for Selective Separation and Enrichment of Copper, Zinc and Iron Minerals from a Polymetallic Ore and the Adsorption Mechanism of Collector Z-200
by Bin Xu, Shouguo Zhong, Jintian Wu, Yujuan Zhou, Yongbin Yang, Qian Li and Tao Jiang
Minerals 2022, 12(3), 384; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12030384 - 19 Mar 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2644
Abstract
A comprehensive recovery process for the selective separation and enrichment of copper, zinc and iron minerals from a polymetallic ore was developed, which consisted of copper flotation, zinc flotation, and iron magnetic separation, and the adsorption mechanism of the copper collector Z-200 (O-isopropyl-N-ethyl [...] Read more.
A comprehensive recovery process for the selective separation and enrichment of copper, zinc and iron minerals from a polymetallic ore was developed, which consisted of copper flotation, zinc flotation, and iron magnetic separation, and the adsorption mechanism of the copper collector Z-200 (O-isopropyl-N-ethyl thionocarbamate) was also studied in this work. The contents of the main valuable metallic elements of Cu, Zn and Fe in the ore were respectively 0.61%, 1.68% and 14.17%, and they mainly existed as chalcopyrite, sphalerite and magnetite, whose dissemination relationship was complex. Under the optimal conditions of this process, the recoveries of Cu, Zn and Fe in their respective concentrates reached 86.1%, 87.6% and 77.8%, and their grades were separately 20.31%, 45.97% and 63.39%. This process realized the selective separation and beneficiation of copper, zinc, and iron minerals from the ore, and had promising industrial application prospects. The adsorption configuration analysis demonstrated that the steadiest adsorption configurations of Z-200 on the surfaces of chalcopyrite, sphalerite and magnetite were the simultaneous adsorption of carbonyl S together with the O atom. Compared with sphalerite and magnetite, Z-200 was more prone to adsorb on the chalcopyrite surface. The Mulliken charge population and bond length analyses manifested that Z-200 chemically adsorbed on the chalcopyrite surface by forming a normal covalent bond and a back donation covalent bond, and the normal covalent bond played a leading role. The chemisorption of Z-00 was supported by the FTIR spectrum analysis result. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy of Sulfide Ores)
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13 pages, 1935 KiB  
Article
Effects of Residual Xanthate on Flotation Efficiency of a Cu-Zn Sulfide Ore
by Yasemin Ozturk, Ozlem Bicak and Zafir Ekmekci
Minerals 2022, 12(3), 279; https://doi.org/10.3390/min12030279 - 23 Feb 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1758
Abstract
Reuse of process water in the flotation of sulfide ores has crucial importance for environmental sustainability and improved process economy. However, the chemistry of process water may be a critical subject for the flotation efficiency as the dissolved ion concentration increases with water [...] Read more.
Reuse of process water in the flotation of sulfide ores has crucial importance for environmental sustainability and improved process economy. However, the chemistry of process water may be a critical subject for the flotation efficiency as the dissolved ion concentration increases with water reuse. In this study, the effects of water reuse on the flotation efficiency of a Cu-Zn sulfide ore were investigated. The flotation flowsheet consists of a pre-flotation section to remove the naturally floatable talc particles, and sequential copper and zinc flotation sections. Calcium, sulfate, thiosulfate, and xanthate were found as major contaminating ionic species in the process water discharged from flotation circuits. The flotation tests with recirculated water from the zinc rougher tailing revealed that the presence of residual xanthate caused unintentional activation of copper minerals in the pre-float section. Copper recovery increased in the pre-flotation section and resulted in the loss of copper to the pre-float concentrate, which is considered as a tailing stream in the current flowsheet. Various types of activated carbon samples were tested to remove the residual xanthate from the tailing water. The carbon samples could be regenerated by heat treatment and reused for water treatment. Performance of the activated carbon samples was directly related to the pore size and surface area. Carbon-treated tailing water could be re-used in flotation without affecting the flotation performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy of Sulfide Ores)
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15 pages, 3632 KiB  
Article
Comparative Study on Refractory Gold Concentrate Kinetics and Mechanisms by Pilot Scale Batch and Continuous Bio-Oxidation
by Zhong-Sheng Huang and Tian-Zu Yang
Minerals 2021, 11(12), 1343; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11121343 - 29 Nov 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1942
Abstract
Most studies conducted have focused on the pulp density, Fe3+ concentration and sulfuric acid concentration, etc., of bio-oxidation, and few have reported on the influence of different bio-oxidation methods on kinetics. In this study, a comparative investigation on refractory gold concentrate by [...] Read more.
Most studies conducted have focused on the pulp density, Fe3+ concentration and sulfuric acid concentration, etc., of bio-oxidation, and few have reported on the influence of different bio-oxidation methods on kinetics. In this study, a comparative investigation on refractory gold concentrate by batch and continuous bio-oxidation was conducted, with the purpose of revealing the kinetics influence. The results showed that improving the removal rates of the gold-bearing pyrite (FeS2) and arsenopyrite (FeAsS) yielded the best results for increasing gold recovery. The removal rates of S, Fe and relative gold recovery linearly increased when compared to the second-order equation increase of the As removal rate in both batch and continuous bio-oxidation processes. The removal kinetics of S and Fe by continuous bio-oxidation was 12.02% and 12.17% per 24 h day, approximately 86.64% and 51.18% higher than batch bio-oxidation, respectively. The higher removal kinetics of continuous bio-oxidation resulted from a stepwise increase in microbe growth, a larger population and higher dissolved Fe3+ and H2SO4 concentration compared to a linear increase by batch bio-oxidation. The cyanidation gold recovery was as high as 94.71% after seven days of continuous bio-oxidation, with the gold concentrate sulfur removal rates of 83.83%; similar results will be achieved after 13 days by batch bio-oxidation. The 16sRNA sequencing showed seven more microbe cultures in the initial residue than Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) at genus level. The quantitative real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test showed the four main functional average microbe populations of Acidithiobacillus, Leptospirillum, Ferroplasma and Sulfobacillus in continuous bio-oxidation residue as 1.08 × 103 higher than in solution. The multi-microbes used in this study have higher bio-oxidation activity and performance in a highly acidic environment since some archaea co-exist and co-contribute. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy of Sulfide Ores)
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19 pages, 26426 KiB  
Article
Flotation Depression of Arsenopyrite Using Sodium Nitrobenzoate under Alkaline Conditions
by Xiaohao Sun, Bozeng Wu, Mingzhen Hu, Hongxin Qiu, Jiushuai Deng, Jiaozong Cai and Xiaoli Jin
Minerals 2021, 11(11), 1216; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11111216 - 30 Oct 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1779
Abstract
Arsenopyrite is a common arsenic-containing mineral that is often closely associated with sulfide minerals, such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, galena, and sphalerite, and with precious metals, such as gold and silver. The selective inhibition of arsenopyrite is an important method used to reduce [...] Read more.
Arsenopyrite is a common arsenic-containing mineral that is often closely associated with sulfide minerals, such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, galena, and sphalerite, and with precious metals, such as gold and silver. The selective inhibition of arsenopyrite is an important method used to reduce the arsenic content of processed products, the cost of arsenic removal in metallurgical processes, and its impact on the environment. In this study, we discovered a chemical sodium, m-nitrobenzoate (m-NBO), that can effectively inhibit the flotation behaviors of arsenopyrite via sodium butyl xanthate (NaBX), and these effects were studied by flotation experiments. The results showed that, using NaBX as a collector, arsenopyrite had good floatability under acidic conditions, but the floatability decreased under alkaline conditions. Furthermore, the organic inhibitor m-NBO had a significant inhibitory effect on arsenopyrite under alkaline conditions. In addition, the adsorption between m-NBO and NaBX was competitive, and a hydrophilic layer formed on the surface of arsenopyrite. The passivation film prevents dixanthogen from being adsorbed on the surface of the mineral. Due to the effect of m-NBO on arsenopyrite, the redox potential and oxide content of the arsenopyrite surface increased, the hydrophobicity of the arsenopyrite surface was reduced, and the flotation of arsenopyrite was inhibited. These results provide options for separating multimetal sulfide minerals and arsenic-containing minerals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy of Sulfide Ores)
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16 pages, 3591 KiB  
Article
Study of the Effect of Absorbed Cu Species on the Surface of Specularite (0 0 1) by the DFT Calculations
by Mingzhu Huangfu, Jiaxin Li, Xi Zhang, Yiming Hu, Jiushuai Deng, Yu Wang and Pingping Wei
Minerals 2021, 11(9), 930; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11090930 - 27 Aug 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1859
Abstract
Cu2+ exhibited a good activation effect on specularite. However, its microscopic activation mechanism needs further study. Additionally, Cu2+ was mainly present in the flotation solution as Cu2+, Cu(OH)+, and Cu(OH)2 at pH = 7. Therefore, density [...] Read more.
Cu2+ exhibited a good activation effect on specularite. However, its microscopic activation mechanism needs further study. Additionally, Cu2+ was mainly present in the flotation solution as Cu2+, Cu(OH)+, and Cu(OH)2 at pH = 7. Therefore, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were used to investigate the effect of Cu species such as Cu2+, Cu(OH)+, and Cu(OH)2 adsorbed on the crystal structure and properties of the specularite (0 0 1) surface. The adsorption mechanism of different Cu components on the surface was also further clarified by the analyses of the adsorption model, adsorption energy, partial density of states (PDOS), charge transfer, and bond properties. In addition, the obtained results are discussed. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that the geometric structure and electronic properties on the surface changed after adsorbing Cu components and that the O3–Fe1–O1 structure was more susceptible to the adsorbates. The adsorption engines results show that Cu components could be spontaneously adsorbed onto the specularite (0 0 1) surface with adsorption energies of −0.76, −0.85, and −1.78 eV, corresponding to Cu2+, CuOH+, and Cu(OH)2, respectively. Therefore, the adsorption stability of the Cu species on the specularite surface increased in the order of Cu2+ < Cu(OH)+ < Cu(OH)2. Additionally, the adsorption sites for Cu species on the surface were different. Cu2+ interacted mainly with O atoms on the surface, forming Cu–O complexes, while Cu(OH)+ and Cu(OH)2 acted mainly through the O atom of –OH, interacting with Fe atoms to form Cu–O–Fe complexes. The formation of Cu–O and Cu–O–Fe complexes increased the adsorption sites for sodium oleate, with more hydrophobic species being generated to improve the floatability of specularite. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy of Sulfide Ores)
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