Accurate prediction of mill load parameters is crucial to improving grinding efficiency and saving energy. Traditional prediction models have challenges such as poor interpretability, low prediction efficiency and differences in data distribution. This study innovatively proposed a multi-task prediction model that integrates physical information and domain adaptation. By constructing a physical-data-driven

Multi-sphere clumps are favored to approximate irregular particles in discrete element model (DEM) due to algorithmic simplicity and efficiency, which, however, leads to approximation errors in dynamical properties and contact forces for motion integration. The latter becomes substantial when cost-effective DEMs are pursued with an acceptable minimum number of subspheres per clump (SPC). This study

The development of flotation collectors is usually time-consuming and costly. Quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) is one of the most powerful methods for designing and modifying molecules. Introducing QSAR into the development of collectors can significantly compensate for the above shortcomings. The molecular structure, conceptual density functional theory (CDFT) and electrostatic

Our previous research on centrifugal high gradient magnetic separation (cHGMS) has fully confirmed its effectiveness to improve the separation selectivity of HGMS process, but they were confined in pilot-scale investigations. In this work, the first full-scale CenMag-300 cHGMS separator was used to clean a primary ilmenite concentrate, which was produced from a pulsating HGMS (PHGMS) roughing process

Effective flotation separation of fluorite and calcite is a critical challenge due to their comparable physicochemical characteristics and surface iso-transformation. The effects of sodium silicate (SS) and Al3+ on the flotation separation of homogenized fluorite and calcite were investigated based on flotation experiments and various measurements such as Zeta potential, scanning electron microscopy

Flotation of coarse particles with poor mineral liberation, aiming at gangue rejection at early stage, has attracted great attentions. Bubble detaching probability ultimately determines the coarse particle separation efficiency. To date, the bubble detaching behavior from the surface of coarse particles with poor liberation remains unclear. In this study, three sizes of bubbles (650 μm, 900 μm and

The weak collection ability of conventional benzohydroxamic acid (BHA) impedes its widespread application in the direct flotation of copper oxide minerals. Conversely, octyl hydroxamic acid (OHA) with enhanced hydrophobicity demonstrated superior collecting ability while exhibiting weak selectivity in malachite flotation. In order to achieve a balance between collecting ability and selectivity, we

The direct reduction of iron (DRI) process plays a pivotal role in the ironmaking and steelmaking industry and has emerged as a promising solution for reducing CO2 emissions. This intricate process spans metallurgy and chemical engineering, encompassing multiple scales (macroscale, mesoscale, microscale, nanoscale) and various reaction systems, including catalytic gas–solid (reformer) and non-catalytic

In oxide mineral flotation, salicylhydroxamic acid (SHA) is a frequently employed collector renowned for its commendable selectivity. Nevertheless, SHA manifests an insufficient collecting efficacy in bastnaesite flotation. In response, the paper synthesized a novel collector, 5,5′-methylenedisalicylic acid (MDSA), by tethering two SHA molecules with a methylene group. In the flotation separation of

While reacting CO2 with sub-surface mafic/ultramafic phases potentially captures greenhouse gas emissions, low porosity and very slow kinetics makes this problematic. Mineral processing tailings and mining wastes offer distinct particles with exposed surfaces that enhance reactivity, and Australia’s mining sector has numerous prospective tailings streams. Passive carbonation of such tailings is known

Understanding dispersion behaviour of bubbles emitting from a sparger is a critical element of mineral flotation process. This aspect was investigated in the present study involving a bubble plume in a semi-batch rectangular column in the presence of an anionic surfactant. First, high-speed imaging was used to visualise the bubble plume behaviour at different air flow rates (0.1 – 0.5 L/min). An image

Precious metals leaching using conventional processes presents challenges due to the use of toxic, expensive, and complex leaching systems, such as cyanidation, thio-systems, and halide systems comprising both lixiviant and oxidant. The present study employed a simple leaching system of alkaline ferricyanide solution with dual functions of leaching and oxidization, to extract precious metals from waste

The flotation separation of pyrite (Py) from serpentine (Spt) was studied using xanthamonas campestris (XC) as a novel Spt depressant. The adsorption of XC onto Spt and Py was observed to decrease with increase in pH attesting to increased repulsion between the negatively charged carboxylate portion of XC and the increased negativity of the mineral surface. However, the polysaccharide adsorption onto

Talc, a prevalent gangue mineral in sulfide ores, poses a significant challenge in the flotation process due to its good floatability. The application of water glass as a standalone reagent has been found to be less effective in suppressing talc. In this study, we delve into the synergistic inhibitory mechanism of Al3+ in conjunction with water glass on talc through a series of micro-flotation tests

Flotation is the most essential method for the concentration of phosphate reserves and, hence, the production of apatite concentrate. With the reduction of high-grade reserves and the necessity of exploiting low-grade phosphate ores, many efforts have been made to use different chemical reagents alone and their combinations as collectors for apatite flotation and achieving high-quality concentrates

The abandoned Touissit-Bou Beker mining district has accumulated tens of millions of tons of tailings, stored without environmental safeguards. Due to the limited ore processing method, the tailings exhibit a significant zinc (2 wt%) and lead (0.3 wt%) content, mainly buried in carbonate minerals. These tailings pose environmental concerns but also offer economic opportunities. This study investigated

The effect of surface roughness on the detachment between the bubbles and the glass beads (soda-lime) was comprehensively investigated. Glass beads with dimensions of −1.20 + 1.12 mm were acid etched to achieve varying degrees of surface roughness, followed by silanation reactions conducted for different immersion times. The characterization of surface roughness was conducted using a ContourGT-K 3D

A REFLUX™ Classifier was used to classify a silica feed (0–710 µm) based on particle size. Split Fluidisation was used to generate remarkably sharp separations involving solids throughputs of up to 92 t/m2/h. This work builds on the previous study by Starrett and Galvin (2023) but with a focus on coarser separations at higher throughputs. As the separation size increased, there was increasing misplacement

A simulation model of a dry, vibrated, fluidized medium (VFM) with sinkhole arrangement was developed and used to investigate the separation of relatively dense, coarse particles. The objective of the new model was to emulate a most unusual experimental result involving the sinkhole arrangement, separation densities much higher than the bulk density of the fluidized medium. The VFM was simulated using

Due to the strong natural floatability of molybdenite and talc, conventional flotation depressants are difficult to separate these two minerals. As a common depressant, starch has a strong inhibitory effect on both minerals (Castro et al., 2016), while sodium carboxymethyl cellulose has a weak inhibitory effect on both minerals (Chen et al., 2024). Therefore, selecting a proper depressant is the key

The oxidation of molybdenite in water-oxygen system adversely affects the flotation recovery. However, previous studies primarily focused on the oxidation of MoS2 edge surfaces, neglecting the oxidation of basal facets, which constitute a larger proportion of the overall surface area. In this work, we systematically investigated the oxidation behavior of the molybdenite base surface and explored the

This study designed a mixed surfactant with solubilization behavior for selective flotation separation of feldspar and quartz. By optimizing the compounding ratio and dosage of reagents, the optimal mixed surfactants, dodecylamine (DDA), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and dodecane with the concentrations of 1.75, 0.58, and 3.5 mmol/L, used in flotation separation of feldspar and quartz has the maximum

The use of coal for ilmenite reduction to produce synthetic rutile is widespread in industry. However, the carbon dioxide emissions associated with coal combustion pose significant environmental concerns. Alternative reductants such as hydrogen have the potential to promote environmentally friendly production of green rutile. This study aimed to assess the technical feasibility of reducing an Australian

In this work, we present a case study demonstrating the application of Optimaviz, an advanced data analytics platform, in addressing the challenges of flotation optimization in the mining industry. The study utilizes historical data from the Jabal Sayid underground copper mine, operated by Ma’aden Barrick Copper Company (MBCC), a joint venture between Ma’aden and Barrick Corporations. Our findings

As a result of ongoing research on direct recycling of battery active materials, it was observed that the chemical environment in flotation operations can be manipulated to produce highly stable froths. Such unexpected behavior opened the possibility to characterize this type of metastable structures using imaging techniques such as x-ray computed tomography. In this article, a first successful three-dimensional

Grinding efficiencies of bentonite-containing ores have been rarely investigated in the literature even though bentonite is found in various ores such as refractory and free-milling gold ores. In this work, the influence of the cation valency of grinding additives on the grinding behaviour of bentonite-containing ores has been studied. The results indicate that the presence of bentonite in the ore

Rapid and cost-effective dewatering of wet tailings is crucial for clean and sustainable production in mineral processing. In the process of dewatering oil sands mature fine tailings (MFT) through coagulation-flocculation followed by pressure filtration, we observed that the dosing sequence of coagulants and flocculants had a significant influence on dewatering efficiency. Employing two anionic commercial

Oily-bubbles have significant advantages including a greater contact area, stronger selectivity and higher mass transfer rate compared to bubbles, which exhibit excellent industrial prospects in mineral processing, extraction metallurgy, wastewater treatment and other fields. In recent decades, extensive research has been conducted on the enhancement of separation and mass transfer processes by oily-bubbles

Plasma based on electrical discharge has attracted extensive attention in various fields for cracking hard coal, yet the behavior characteristics of plasma channels and the evolution law of fractures in coal have not been investigated in depth. In this study, the evolution law of plasma-induced fractures in coal was revealed by means of physical experiments and numerical simulations. Moreover, the

The importance of digital twin maintenance has recently surfaced through findings from industrial applications. Changes in actual physical systems affect the resemblance between digital and physical twins, which can be seen in the continuously changing variation in model residuals. In this study, a method that autonomously updates itself is proposed for monitoring multivariate residuals. It is independent

The increasing demand for sustainable construction materials has driven significant interest in utilizing recycled concrete aggregates (RCA). However, the mechanical performance and durability of RCA are often compromised due to the presence of residual mortar. This study explores an innovative surface treatment approach combining abrasion and cement slurry coating to improve the properties of RCA

The Bushveld Complex in South Africa contains the largest reserves of platinum group elements (PGEs) in the world. It is composed of the Merensky reef, UG2 reef and the Platreef. Unlike the other reefs that have been largely exploited, the Platreef ores have proved to be difficult to process due to their low content of PGE sulphides and the low association of the PGM minerals with the base metal sulphides

Hydrophobic modification of sulfur-containing waste rock is a promising strategy for reducing acid mine drainage (AMD) generation. This study investigated the use of sodium oleate and nano silca to modify sulfur-containing waste rock and evaluated the acid-suppressive properties of the sodium oleate and nano silca treatment through static and dynamic leaching tests. Results from these tests indicated

In this century, our daily life is surrounded by technological devices, and Rare Earth Elements (REE) are at the heart of this technological revolution. They are always listed having the highest supply risk in critical minerals published by different countries. From that point of view, their extraction, and creating a secured supply chain is always crucial. In this research, the influence of calcination

High gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) is a potential method of separating chalcopyrite from copper-arsenopyrite co-flotation concentrate. However, during the co-flotation process the addition of bleaching powder (ClO−), which has been a common depressant for arsenopyrite, deteriorates their separation selectivity in the subsequent HGMS process, and until today this effect of ClO− is unknown to people

Flotation is a potential method for extracting residual copper sulfide (CuS) from the acid-leaching residue of copper smelting dust; however, the inhibitory impact of Bi(III) in the flotation pulp significantly hampers its practical application. In this study, we systematically investigated the inhibition mechanism of Bi(III) on CuS flotation and propose a method to prevent inhibition. Microflotation

X-ray radiography presents a non-invasive and dynamic approach for examining multiphase flows, particularly in complex systems like flotation froths. While this technique has been applied successfully in various multiphase studies, such as granular flows and fluidised beds, its utilisation in understanding flotation froths is novel. This study aimed to investigate the behaviour of particles and bubbles

The Brazilian dolomitic itabirites are considered marginal resources and deposited in waste rock dumps as the cationic reverse flotation circuits present limitations to remove carbonate minerals. This work proposes the synthesis and application of N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)oleamide as a collector in the flotation of carbonates present in dolomitic itabirites. Hematite, quartz, calcite, and dolomite samples

Ash content is a key indicator to evaluate coal flotation concentrate quality and adjust flotation process parameters, which could be determined by analyzing froth images. In this research, a multi-scale multi-task neural network (MSTNet) was developed to realize accurate determination of the ash content of industrial coal flotation concentrate by analyzing froth images. Furthermore, transfer learning

It is of great significance to improve the flotation of copper sulfide minerals at low temperatures. In this study, the reduction mechanism of chalcopyrite flotation performance and the role of copper ions in improving the flotation of chalcopyrite at low temperatures were systematically investigated. The results of the flotation tests prove that the chalcopyrite flotation recovery is lower at low

This study presents the development and validation of a digital twin for a semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) mill controlled by an expert system. The digital twin integrates three key components of the closed-loop operation: (1) fuzzy logic for expert control, (2) a state-space model for regulatory control, and (3) a recurrent neural network to simulate the SAG mill process. The digital twin is combined

In 2020, the European Union officially designated strontium as a Critical Raw Material (CRM) due to its diverse applications and limited global producers, with Spain as one of the primary producers and the only one in the EU. This comprehensive review discusses strontium market dynamics, global reserves, and technological advancements in mineral processing techniques to extract and concentrate its

Fluidized bed flotation involves three phases of gas, liquid and solid, which can be used for the separation of coarse minerals. In this study, a two-dimensional gas–liquid-solid fluidized bed was developed to explore the fluidization characteristics of fluidized bed flotation. The effects of water velocity, air velocity, frother dosage and particle size (Ql, Qg, ρn, Dp) on the average pressure drop

Quartz and feldspar are the primary impurities in the mineral processing of pollucite. Due to the highly similar surface properties of these three minerals in terms of physicochemical characteristics, achieving efficient flotation enrichment of pollucite has been a challenging problem. To address this issue, the development of flotation collectors with high selectivity towards pollucite is crucial

Environmental factors and water scarcity have led to the recirculation of greater quantities of water in mineral processing plants. Recycling water or using alternate water sources, e.g. seawater, for flotation can result in an increase in ionic concentrations and lower water quality. Water recirculation and lower water quality can increase ionic strength which can cause corrosion, scale formation

Fluorite and barite share similar physicochemical properties, making them challenging to separate efficiently using flotation. To address this problem, sodium oleate (NaOL) was used as a collector to study the separation effect of carboxylated chitosan (CCS) as a depressant for fluorite and barite. Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) test, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Zeta potential test, contact

The supply of the strategic metal titanium is of great significance in ensuring the sustainable development of the national economy and national defense. As an irreplaceable raw material in the titanium industry, ilmenite has become increasingly prominent in its commercial demand and strategic position. With high-quality ilmenite resources continuing to be developed, these resources are typically characterized

Gold recovery from wastewater should be cost-effective, efficient, and environmentally friendly. In this study, adsorbents containing Fe(II,III) systems were prepared via thermal modification of pyrite. The effects of thermal modification temperature, the source of pyrite, pH, ionic strength, adsorbent solid–liquid ratio, and coexisting metal ions on adsorption were investigated. Further, the removability

This study aims to optimize the adsorption process of gallic acid (GA) on Cu-Al layered double hydroxides (LDHs) synthesized via a co-precipitation method at various pH levels. The procedure is based on the adsorption of organic pollutants from aqueous solutions, with evaluations carried out based on operational parameters such as pH, initial concentration, and adsorbent quantity. Two series of LDHs

Coal and other mineral resources are also commonly found in bauxite mining. The process of bauxite mining is usually affected by retained ore pillars in other strata, which leads to the formation of combinations composed of different strata. Once these combinations become unstable, they can cause serious disasters that threaten production safety. Aiming at the safe mining of co-associated resources

This study focused on the preparation, characterization and photocatalytic performance of a monolithic composite made from vanadium-titanium magnetite tailings and quartz sand. Rhodamine B was used as a pollutant model and the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B by the prepared composites was investigated. The results indicated that the composite could effectively degraded Rhodamine B, achieving

The leaching liquor extracted from ion-adsorption type rare earth (RE) ores contains large amounts of aluminum (Al) ions. The neutralization-precipitation method for Al removal results in the loss of large amounts of RE, leading to the waste of RE resources. Preliminary research has shown that the introduction of acetic acid (HAc) during the Al removal process could effectively reduce RE loss. However

The liquid alkali decomposition method represents a relatively clean smelting process for the treatment of the mixed rare earth concentrate derived from Bayan Obo. However, the production process generates a considerable quantity of alkaline wastewater, which presents a significant obstacle to the large-scale application of this process. Accordingly, the reduction and high-value treatment of rare earth

The surface composition, coordination environment, and chemical state of arsenopyrite dictate the propensity of the mineral to undergo oxidation, leaching, and flotation separation. Because of this, it is of great significance to study the mechanism by which mechanical ball milling affects the composition and coordination of the surface atoms. In this study, the arsenopyrite powder was ground using

This work attempts to clarify the reason for low gold recovery in Carlin-type gold ores flotation by revealing the correlation of interactions between pyrite and dolomite during the oxidation process with flotation performance. In this paper, the sulfur oxidation rate determined by Ion chromatography (IC) was adopted to evaluate the oxidation degrees of the mixed pyrite and dolomite systems. Flotation

Precious metals (PMs), particularly platinum group metals (PGMs), are of strategic importance due to their high supply–demand imbalance, scarcity, and functionality in high-tech fields. The global supply of PMs is constrained due to the rising demand in clean energy applications. Therefore, the recycling of PMs from secondary resources can effectively alleviate the risk of supply shortages. Pyrometallurgical

Cycle flotation tests have been preferred for obtaining metallurgical projections based on laboratory flotation tests because they can simulate a continuous circuit similar to real flotation plants. However, cycle tests are typically conducted in the laboratory under a limited number of operating conditions, so the behavior of ores in these tests might only partially represent the complexity and variations

The increase in CO2 emission during Portland cement manufacturing has motivated studies on new binder systems. The production of alternative cements with less environmental impact (zero clinker) has been gaining increasing interest, mainly because green cements emit smaller amounts of CO2. One of these binders, the geopolymers, are obtained from the alkaline activation of materials rich in silica and

In China’s rapid development, the metallurgy industry plays a pivotal role. However, the processing and utilization of iron ore results in the production of a significant amount of iron-bearing smelting slags. Iron-bearing smelting slags contains iron, zinc, copper, calcium, potassium, and other metal elements. Challenges in processing technology and cost control in smelting enterprises contribute

Direct aqueous mineral carbonation of olivine minerals has been extensively investigated in the past. However, the effect of inorganic electrolytes, particularly sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), on mineral carbonation rate has not been investigated yet. In this work, we report experimental results on the CO2 uptake rate of ultrafine olivine-rich rocks using Na2SO4 and sodium chloride (NaCl) as inorganic catalysts