Annual Meeting Preliminary Program - Full Brochure (PDF) - SME

TECHNICAL PROGRAM
9:25 AM
Recovery of Zinc from Mining Influenced Water for
Fertilizer Applications
L. Figueroa and K. Whysner; Civil and Environmental Engineering,
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO
The metals contained in MIW represent potential resources that usually end up
in uneconomically retrievable forms. The key to cost effective recovery of metals
is that the processes used to treat the MIW must create metal forms amenable to
beneficial use. Industrial and by-product materials are currently used in the manufacture
of zinc fertilizers. The manufacture of zinc micronutrient fertilizers
from MIW has potential but more information is needed on the feedstock forms
needed for the wide variety of zinc fertilizers used in agriculture. This presentation
will cover chemical forms amenable to economical beneficial use, the analysis
of MIW treatment systems for zinc recovery potential, and requirements for
the production of feedstock for zinc fertilizers.
9:45 AM
The Economics of Zinc Recovery from Mining Influenced Water
L. Figueroa; Civil & Environmental Engineering, Colorado School of
Mines, Golden, CO
Zinc is a worldwide commodity. Zinc may also be present in mining influenced
water. The most common method of removing zinc from mining influenced
water is with hydroxide precipitation and the sludge is typically sent to a landfill.
The hydroxide form limits the potential to recover and utilize the metals from the
treatment sludge. Selective precipitation of zinc in a sulfide precipitation scheme
can produce a solid form amenable to zinc recovery. Two contrasting MIW treatment
systems are analyzed as benchmarks for zinc recovery potential, one used
sulfide and the other used hydroxide precipitation.
Industrial Minerals & aggregates:
Industrial Minerals: Innovations in
Industrial Minerals Processing
9:00 AM • Wednesday, February 27
chairs: R. Raitani, Cytec Industries Inc., Stamford, CT
V. Gupta, FLSmidth, Salt Lake City, UT
9:00 AM
Introductions
9:05 AM
Contaminant Removal from Mine Effluents: Understanding the
Aqueous Chemistry is Key
L. Moore 1 , M. Costa 2 , J. Langsch 2 , L. Sanders 1 , J. Durand 1 , T. Banks 1
and F. Kero 1 ; 1 Minerals and Metals, Kemira, Atlanta, GA and
2
Minerals and Metals, Kemira, Barueri, Brazil
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers oxyanionic contamination of
aqueous systems as a global concern. Examples of such oxyanions are those
formed from selenium, arsenic, phosphorus, nitrogen, sulfate, and more. While
the elemental forms are toxic, the aqueous oxyanions are more so. These aqueous
forms, which exist at a higher oxidation state, are the most common forms released
during mining processes. Commercially available technologies are capable
of meeting the governmental discharge criteria for many oxyanionic contaminants;
however, performance limitations are encountered for certain species like
arsenic and selenium due to redox chemistry as well as the water matrices. An innovative
technology was developed that can successfully remove such aqueous
forms generated during mining processes to a level below the discharge criteria
set by regulatory authorities. This paper discusses the performance sensitivities of
this novel adsorbent towards variations in water matrices and redox chemistry localized
to mining sites.
9:25 AM
Triboelectric Separator for Beneficiation of Fine Minerals
J. Bittner, S. Gasiorowski and F. Hrach; Separation Technologies,
LLC, Needham, MA
Separation Technologies, LLC (ST) has developed a processing system based on
triboelectric charging and electrostatic separation that provides the mineral processing
industry a means to beneficiate fine materials with an entirely dry technology.
In contrast to the other available electrostatic separation processes that
are typically limited to particles greater than 75 µm in size, the ST belt separator
is ideally suited for separation of very fine (