Study on Seafloor Mineral Processing for Mining of Seafloor Massive Sulfides

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuharu Nakajima ◽  
Joji Yamamoto ◽  
Shigeo Kanada ◽  
Sotaro Masanobu ◽  
Ichihiko Takahashi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Pressures ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Mineral Processing ◽  
Hydrothermal Fluids ◽  
Column Flotation ◽  
Processing Methods ◽  
Massive Sulfides ◽  
Copper And Zinc ◽  
Froth Layer ◽  
Water Depths

Seafloor Massive Sulfides (SMSs), which were formed by deposition of precipitates from hydrothermal fluids vented from seafloor, has been expected as one of unconventional mineral resources on deep seafloors in the oceans. The authors have proposed the concept of seafloor mineral processing for SMS mining, where valuable minerals contained in SMS ores are separated on seafloor while gangue minerals are disposed on seafloor in appropriate ways. To confirm the applicability of column flotation, which is one of conventional mineral processing methods, to seafloor mineral processing, the authors carried out experiments simulating column flotation under the pressure conditions corresponding to the water depths down to 1000m in maximum using ore samples containing copper, iron, zinc and lead. In the experiments, formation of fine bubbles suitable to flotation and overflow of froth layer were observed at high pressures. The contents of copper and zinc in the concentrates recovered in the experiments at 1MPa were higher than those in the feed ores while the contents of silicon and calcium in the concentrates were lower than those in the feed ores. These results suggest that column flotation would be applicable to seafloor mineral processing.

Concept of Seafloor Mineral Processing for Development of Seafloor Massive Sulfides

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuharu Nakajima ◽  
Shotaro Uto ◽  
Shigeo Kanada ◽  
Joji Yamamoto ◽  
Ichihiko Takahashi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Pressures ◽  
Pure Water ◽  
Analytical Data ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Mineral Processing ◽  
Column Flotation ◽  
Metallic Elements ◽  
Massive Sulfides ◽  
Chemical Reagents ◽  
Froth Layer

Seafloor Massive Sulfides (SMS), which were formed by deposition of precipitates from hydrothermal fluids vented from seafloor, is one of unconventional mineral resources beneath deep seafloors in the world. The authors have proposed the concept of seafloor mineral processing for development of SMS, where useful minerals included in SMS ores are separated on seafloor to be lifted while the remaining gangue is disposed on seafloor in appropriate ways. To apply column flotation, one of conventional methods in mineral processing, to seafloor mineral processing, the authors carried out simulating experiments of column flotation on deep seafloor using ores including copper, iron, lead and zinc as metallic elements. Prior to the experiments at high pressures, preparatory experiments at the atmospheric pressure were carried out to find out the optimum condition of the properties of pulp, a mixture of feed ore, water and chemical reagents. In flotation experiments at high pressures, formation and overflow of froth layer by bubbling were observed at 1MPa in both of pulps with pure water and artificial seawater. The analytical data showed that the concentration of metallic elements such as copper and zinc in the concentrates recovered from the experiments was higher than that in the feed ores while the concentration of silicon and calcium, which are assigned to gangue, in the concentrates was lower than that in the feed ores. These results suggest that column flotation can be applied to operation on seafloor.

Development of Elemental Technologies for Seafloor Mineral Processing of Seafloor Massive Sulfides

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuharu Nakajima ◽  
Joji Yamamoto ◽  
Tomoko Takahashi ◽  
Blair Thornton ◽  
Yuta Yamabe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Pressures ◽  
Fine Particles ◽  
Processing System ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Mineral Processing ◽  
Contact Angles ◽  
Separation Unit ◽  
Massive Sulfides ◽  
Breakdown Spectroscopy ◽  
The Difference

Abstract Seafloor Massive Sulfides have been expected to be future mineral resources. The grade of valuable metallic elements in ores of Seafloor Massive Sulfides is usually small percentage. If valuable minerals can be extracted from the ores on deep seafloor, the total mining cost can be reduced significantly. The authors proposed Seafloor Mineral Processing, where ores are to be ground into fine particles and separated into concentrates and tailings on seafloor. The Seafloor Mineral Processing system consists of processing units for unit operations such as grinding and separation. To investigate the applicability of flotation, which is a method to separate ore particles by using the difference in wettability of minerals, to the separation unit, measurements of contact angles of sulfide minerals at high pressures were carried out. The results suggested that the contact angles of the minerals would have relationships with pressure in depending on the kind of minerals and solutions. In addition, applying Laser-Induced breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), an optical method for elemental analysis, to measurement of metal grade of ore particles handled as slurry in the processing units was also investigated. Signals assigned to copper, zinc, and lead were successfully detected in the spectra obtained from ore particles in slurry flow.

Study on Grinding Technology for Seafloor Mineral Processing

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuharu Nakajima ◽  
Joji Yamamoto ◽  
Shigeo Kanada ◽  
Sotaro Masanobu ◽  
Ichihiko Takahashi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ball Mill ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Mineral Processing ◽  
Hydrothermal Fluids ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Pressure Condition ◽  
Massive Sulfides ◽  
Rotation Rates ◽  
Wet Grinding ◽  
Grinding Performance

Seafloor Massive Sulfides (SMSs), which are formed by precipitates from hydrothermal fluids vented from seafloor, have been expected as one of mineral resources to be developed. The authors have proposed the concept of seafloor mineral processing for SMS mining, where valuable minerals contained in SMS ores are separated on seafloor. To apply a ball mill to the grinding unit for seafloor mineral processing, grinding experiments were carried out using a small-scale ball mill applicable to high-pressure condition. In the experiments, wet grinding and water-filled grinding of size-classified silica sands were carried out at three rotation rates to compare the grinding performance in both cases. In both cases, the silica sands were finely ground. The measurement of particle size of samples from the experiments showed that water-filled grinding had comparable grinding performance to wet grinding while the suitable rotation rate for water-filled grinding shifted to higher than that for wet grinding. This result suggests the possibility of water-filled grinding for seafloor mineral processing. If water-filled grinding can be employed for the grinding unit, the structure of the grinding unit would be simplified in comparison with wet grinding that leads to the saving of grinding costs.

Beneficiation of Seafloor Massive Sulfides by Liquid-Liquid Extraction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
Yasuharu Nakajima ◽  
Yuta Yamabe ◽  
Toyohisa Fujita ◽  
Gjergj Dodbiba
Keyword(s):  
Aqueous Solution ◽  
Contact Angle ◽  
High Pressures ◽  
Sulfide Mineral ◽  
Contact Angles ◽  
Liquid Extraction ◽  
Massive Sulfides ◽  
Liquid Liquid Extraction ◽  
Pressure Extraction ◽  
The Difference

Abstract This paper addresses the applicability of liquid-liquid extraction for separating mineral particles by the difference in oil-water partition coefficient, for the seafloor mineral processing of Seafloor Massive Sulfides (SMSs). Measurements of contact angle of sulfide mineral – aqueous solution – oil systems under high-pressure conditions were performed to evaluate the efficiency of liquid-liquid extraction at high pressures. The results showed that the contact angle stayed around 80 - 100° at the pressure range up to 16MPa; and the changes in the contact angles were within 5° with varying pressure. Extraction experiments were carried out by using particles of an SMS ore, which contained Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb), and Barium (Ba) in the grade of more than 10 mass% and Copper (Cu) in a small percentage, to evaluate the beneficiation performance of liquid-liquid extraction. In the experiments, extraction conditions such as the dosage of chemical reagents, and pH in the aqueous solution were varied to optimize both the recovery and selectivity of Cu, Zn, and Pb in the oil phase, and those of Ba in the water phase. The experimental results showed that the optimum condition was 200 g/t dosage - pH 7, where the grade and recovery were ca. 37 mass% and ca. 90 mass%, respectively. The beneficiation performance of liquid-liquid extraction would be comparable to that of flotation, adapted to the processing of other SMS ores.

scholarly journals Development of processing technology and mathematical model of modification of magnesite raw material

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAL LESKO ◽  
TOMÁS BAKALÁR
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Mineral Processing ◽  
Processing Technology ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Chemical Methods ◽  
Processing Methods ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
Mineralogical Properties

The application of physical and physical-chemical methods of magnesite processing related to the physical, chemical and mineralogical properties of particular magnesite types are presented in this paper. The best product qualities, achieved depending on the degree of liberalization of components contained in the magnesite, are shown. Possibilities and advantages of modelling of mineral processing methods applied to magnesite are also exemplified.

Overview on the Treatment Technology of Wastewater from Copper Mineral Processing (WCMP)

2013 ◽  
Vol 750-752 ◽  
pp. 1369-1372 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu Zhao ◽  
Ji Ze Pan
Keyword(s):  
Suspended Solids ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Mineral Processing ◽  
Ecological Environment ◽  
Treatment Technology ◽  
Flotation Reagents ◽  
Copper Mineral ◽  
Treatment Techniques ◽  
Exploitation And Utilization ◽  
Large Numbers

During the exploitation and utilization of the mineral resources, varieties of pollutants have been produced, which would impact the natural environment inevitably and bring many adverse effects to ecological environment and the human health. Its worth noting that the wastewater from copper mineral processing (WCMP) is one of the main source of mine environmental pollution. The WCMP is characterized by large quantity and containing large numbers of suspended solids, residual flotation reagents and heavy metals, etc. Wastewater can be discharged and realized reuse only after effective treatment. Recently, natural sedimentation, neutralization, flocculation, oxidation and other treatment techniques by wastes are the commonly used methods to treat the mineral processing wastewater.

scholarly journals Mechanical Tests and Numerical Simulations for Mining Seafloor Massive Sulfides

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Dai ◽  
Feiyue Ma ◽  
Xiang Zhu ◽  
He Liu ◽  
Zhonghua Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Compressive Strength ◽  
Numerical Simulations ◽  
Laboratory Tests ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Friction Angle ◽  
Mechanical Tests ◽  
Massive Sulfides ◽  
Triaxial Compressive Strength ◽  
Ucs Test

With the decrease of primary resources in recent years, deep seabed mineral resources, especially the massive sulfides, are of extensive research significance. In this paper, firstly, the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) test and triaxial compressive strength (TCS) test on the seafloor massive sulfides (SMS) samples from three different segments are conducted to obtain the key mechanical properties, including the cohesive force, internal friction angle, compressive strength, elastic modulus and Poisson’s ratio. Then, by leveraging the PFC3D code, the uniaxial and triaxial numerical simulations of SMS are performed. During this process, the micro properties in the simulation are altered through a calibration process until they match the macro properties of the SMS samples measured in the laboratory tests. Finally, the micro properties are applied to simulate the cutting process of single cutting pick and two adjacent cutting picks; meanwhile, the cutting force in the fragmentation process of SMS is monitored and collected. This research can provide some guidance for the mining simulation of SMS and effectively predicting the maximum force on the cutting pick.

Development of seafloor mineral processing for Seafloor Massive Sulfides

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasuharu Nakajima ◽  
Takumi Sato ◽  
Blair Thornton ◽  
Gjergj Dodbiba ◽  
Toyohisa Fujita
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Processing ◽  
Massive Sulfides

Research on Jinchuan Mineral Processing Plant by Flotation Column

2012 ◽  
Vol 524-527 ◽  
pp. 1058-1061
Author(s):  
Yang Lu ◽  
Xin Xin Cao
Keyword(s):  
Bubble Column ◽  
Mineral Processing ◽  
Bubble Columns ◽  
Column Flotation ◽  
Processing Plant ◽  
Manufacture System ◽  
Flotation Column ◽  
Micro Bubble ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Mineralogy Analysis

In this paper processing mineralogy analysis was carried on the secondary crude ore of which the characteristic of the separating was analyzed. Tests were carried on the crude ore, which is of the secondary grinding of the rich ore manufacture system of Jinchuan mineral processing plant, by using Cyclonic-static Micro-bubble Column Flotation. The result of the tests had proved that Cyclonic-Static Micro-bubble Columns Flotation is expert at recoverying the fine ores, and middling-regrinding is a feasible kind of method to improving the recovery.

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