Separation of target elements or minerals from their host rock or ore is essential to successful mining operation. The inevitable loss of a portion of the desired material that accompanies each step in the extraction ...Separation of target elements or minerals from their host rock or ore is essential to successful mining operation. The inevitable loss of a portion of the desired material that accompanies each step in the extraction process must be documented to develop the operational protocol. Superposition of the characteristic X-ray fluorescence spectra of head (crushed rock ore particles, pre-processing) and tail (post-processing particles) samples provides a direct visual comparison of relative peak sizes, and thereby the relative concentrations, of elements of interest. If the head and tail peaks are identical, none of the element was recovered in the extraction process. At the other extreme if the tail peak “flat lines”, i.e., there is no peak, there was 100% recovery of that element. Standardless visual comparison is valid if the same mass of identical starting material is incorporated into the head and tail sample analysis pucks, and XRF analytical conditions are identical. The considerable time and expense of acquiring and calibrating the standards associated with XRF analysis of 75 or more elements are avoided, a significant advantage during initial broad screening of an experimental extraction procedure. Full quantitation by XRF or an alternate technique can proceed at a later project stage, if desired. The approach retains and presents all features of the original data, thus eliminating questions about data quality, standards and their calibration, and data manipulation in processing from raw counts to concentrations in printout tables. This form of display is ideal for both the mining professional and such less technical groups as corporate staff, investors, regulators, and the public. Examples presented herein are for heap leaching;the protocol can be applied as well to any of the other traditional ore processing and beneficiation procedures, e.g., gravity concentration, magnetic and electrical separation, froth flotation, and ore sorting.展开更多
The peraluminous rhyolite that forms Round Top Mountain (approximately 375 m high × nearly 2 km in diameter), near Sierra Blanca, Hudspeth County, west Texas, USA, is enriched in yttrium and heavy rare earth elem...The peraluminous rhyolite that forms Round Top Mountain (approximately 375 m high × nearly 2 km in diameter), near Sierra Blanca, Hudspeth County, west Texas, USA, is enriched in yttrium and heavy rare earth elements (YHREEs), as well as Li, Be, U, Th, Sn, F, Rb, Cs, Nb, and Ta. Texas Mineral Resources Corp. (USA) proposes to release the YHREEs from their unique yttrofluorite host via heap leaching with dilute sulfuric acid. The inexpensive process also releases portions of valuable byproduct Be, Li, and U from accessory minerals amid the insoluble feldspars and quartz that comprise 90% - 95% of the surface-exposed rhyolite mountain. The objective of this study is to determine the consistency of mineralization grade, an important consideration in mine planning and preliminary economic analysis. The method is to plot elemental analyses of Y, Dy, Ho, Tm, Yb, Ce, Pr, Nd, Eu, Gd, Tb, U, and Nb from more than 1400 reverse circulation cuttings taken from 64 exploration drill holes against sample depth. The result of inspection of the plots reveals a remarkably homogeneous distribution of minor and trace elements throughout the sampled portion of the massive, 1.6-billion-tonne laccolith. The plots drive the conclusion that Round Top mine feedstock should remain constant for the life of the mine (multiple decades). Thus mining mechanics could be optimized at the start of operations and not require expensive later changes. The physical and chemical design of the heap leach and recovery and purification of target elements from pregnant leach solution also could be perfected during early development.展开更多
文摘Separation of target elements or minerals from their host rock or ore is essential to successful mining operation. The inevitable loss of a portion of the desired material that accompanies each step in the extraction process must be documented to develop the operational protocol. Superposition of the characteristic X-ray fluorescence spectra of head (crushed rock ore particles, pre-processing) and tail (post-processing particles) samples provides a direct visual comparison of relative peak sizes, and thereby the relative concentrations, of elements of interest. If the head and tail peaks are identical, none of the element was recovered in the extraction process. At the other extreme if the tail peak “flat lines”, i.e., there is no peak, there was 100% recovery of that element. Standardless visual comparison is valid if the same mass of identical starting material is incorporated into the head and tail sample analysis pucks, and XRF analytical conditions are identical. The considerable time and expense of acquiring and calibrating the standards associated with XRF analysis of 75 or more elements are avoided, a significant advantage during initial broad screening of an experimental extraction procedure. Full quantitation by XRF or an alternate technique can proceed at a later project stage, if desired. The approach retains and presents all features of the original data, thus eliminating questions about data quality, standards and their calibration, and data manipulation in processing from raw counts to concentrations in printout tables. This form of display is ideal for both the mining professional and such less technical groups as corporate staff, investors, regulators, and the public. Examples presented herein are for heap leaching;the protocol can be applied as well to any of the other traditional ore processing and beneficiation procedures, e.g., gravity concentration, magnetic and electrical separation, froth flotation, and ore sorting.
文摘The peraluminous rhyolite that forms Round Top Mountain (approximately 375 m high × nearly 2 km in diameter), near Sierra Blanca, Hudspeth County, west Texas, USA, is enriched in yttrium and heavy rare earth elements (YHREEs), as well as Li, Be, U, Th, Sn, F, Rb, Cs, Nb, and Ta. Texas Mineral Resources Corp. (USA) proposes to release the YHREEs from their unique yttrofluorite host via heap leaching with dilute sulfuric acid. The inexpensive process also releases portions of valuable byproduct Be, Li, and U from accessory minerals amid the insoluble feldspars and quartz that comprise 90% - 95% of the surface-exposed rhyolite mountain. The objective of this study is to determine the consistency of mineralization grade, an important consideration in mine planning and preliminary economic analysis. The method is to plot elemental analyses of Y, Dy, Ho, Tm, Yb, Ce, Pr, Nd, Eu, Gd, Tb, U, and Nb from more than 1400 reverse circulation cuttings taken from 64 exploration drill holes against sample depth. The result of inspection of the plots reveals a remarkably homogeneous distribution of minor and trace elements throughout the sampled portion of the massive, 1.6-billion-tonne laccolith. The plots drive the conclusion that Round Top mine feedstock should remain constant for the life of the mine (multiple decades). Thus mining mechanics could be optimized at the start of operations and not require expensive later changes. The physical and chemical design of the heap leach and recovery and purification of target elements from pregnant leach solution also could be perfected during early development.
