• Semester 2 (External)

Synopsis

Mineral  processing is the stage of processing which occurs after  the
mining  of  an  ore  and  allows the economic  production  of  metals,
metallic products or other mineral based materials with the minimum of
energy utilisation.

The  product from a mineral processing operation is called  a  mineral
concentrate and in the process of producing the concentrate,  a  waste
stream called the tailing is also produced.

The  ability to direct valuable minerals into a concentrate,  and  non
valuable  minerals  into a tailing allows the  process  to  achieve  a
reduction in the mass of product containing the valuable minerals  and
hence the term concentrate may be used.

The waste material (tailing) produced is left at the mine site and  it
is  utilised  where  possible for filling the  openings  made  by  the
mining.

The  mineral  concentrate on the other hand is  further  processed  by
techniques    such    as    hydrometallurgy,    pyrometallurgy     and
electrometallurgy to produce metals or other metalliferous or  mineral
products.

In  order for the concentration process to occur it is first necessary
to  break  the  ore as put together by nature so that  the  individual
grains of valuable and non valuable minerals may be separated into the
concentrate and the tailing respectively.

This  is done by crushing and grinding in a sequence of machines.  The
resultant ground product (usually a slurry) is then fed to one or more
concentrating  devices where the valuable minerals  and  non  valuable
minerals are recovered.

Various properties of the minerals such as density, surface chemistry,
magnetic susceptibility, and electrical conductivity are exploited  to
achieve a mineral separation.

Dewatering  of  the  concentrate and preparation for  transport  to  a
smelter are the final processes in the normal route followed prior  to
the production of metal or other product.