Water in Mineral Processing

404 Pages·2012·16.35 MB·English

by  Drelich

W AtER iN MiNERAl
PRoCESSiNg

Edited by Jaroslaw Drelich
Contributing Editors:
Jiann-Yang Hwang
Jack Adams
D.R. Nagaraj
Xiaowei Sun
Zhenghe Xu
PRoCEEDiNgS of tHE fiRSt iNtERNAtioNAl SYMPoSiuM
Published by
Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration
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!SME_WaterMineralPro_TitlePg_L3.indd 1 11/17/11 7:41 AM
Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc. (SME)
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SME advances the worldwide mining and minerals community through information exchange and profes-
sional development. With members in more than 70 countries, SME is the world’s largest association of
mining and minerals professionals.
Copyright © 2012 Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc.
Electronic edition published 2012.
All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
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permission of the publisher.
ISBN 978-0-87335-349-6
Ebook 978-0-87335-356-4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Water in mineral processing / edited by Jaroslaw Drelich ; contributing editors, Jiann-Yang Hwang ...
[et al.]. -- 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-87335-349-6 (print) -- ISBN 978-0-87335-356-4 (ebook)
1. Mineral industries--Water-supply. 2. Mineral industries--Waste disposal--Environmental aspects.
3. Water reuse. 4. Dredging spoil--Environmental aspects. I. Drelich, J. (Jaroslaw) II. Hwang,
Jiann-Yang.
TD428.D74W38 2012
622.028’6--dc23
2011047136
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Preface
One of the major challenges that the mining and minerals processing industry faces in the
21st century is dealing with the management of ever decreasing water resources. More than
80 countries experience water shortages that threaten industrial activities and the health of
their citizens. In the United States, water shortages are also of concern, not only in dry, western
states, but also in Alabama, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, South
Carolina, and Virginia. The solutions to the problem include reduced consumption of water,
development and use of water-free technologies, treatment and recycling of industrial and
municipal water streams, and desalting of brines and water from oceans and seas.
To conserve water resources, water from industrial activities must be recycled or dis-
charged after treatment to meet the standards of freshwater. Although removal of suspended
and floating particles has improved over the years, the search for better and more economi-
cal technologies continues. More challenging is the removal of dissolved solids and organics.
Current technologies in this area are insufficient and, consequently, even continuous recycling
of industrial water contributes to a decline in its quality, particularly through increases in salin-
ity and hardness of the water and increased content of dissolved organics, which affect mineral
processing operations, corrosion of equipment, water use, and reclamation efforts.
In recognition of these challenges, the SME Mineral and Metallurgical Processing Division
organized this First International Symposium on Water in Mineral Processing during the 2012
SME Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington. Through this symposium, and similar sym-
posia to be organized in the future, we intend to promote innovative water-use and water-
purification technologies for mineral processing applications. Because most mineral processing
operations require high water use to sustain the parameters for selective separation of minerals,
the symposium intends to address the needs for sustainable technologies with reduced water
consumption and reduced discharge of process-affected water. Strong emphasis is also given to
fundamental aspects of the effects of process water quality on recovery and grades of valuable
minerals products.
The program comprises a plenary session with keynote addresses by Robert Dunne from
Newmont Mining Corporation and Ronald S. Oremland of the U.S. Geological Survey, and
four regular sessions on the following topics: Processing with Sea Water and Saline Solutions,
Water Treatment and Biological Methods, Effect of Water Quality on Minerals Processing, and
Water and Tailings Management, with two additional keynote presentations by Sergio Castro
of the Universidad de Concepción (Chile) and Enrico Drioli from the University of Calabria
(Italy). We thank all of the keynote speakers for accepting our invitation and sharing their
expertise and time.
All keynote and regular presentations from the symposium are collected in this book. We
sincerely thank the authors for their contributions, and we thank all the reviewers for their
time and effort. We also acknowledge the help and support received from the publisher. We
hope that you will find this book timely and useful.
vii
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Contents
Preface .............................................................................................................................................vii
Part 1: Keynotes
Water Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink, Nor Do I Know Its Whereabouts
Robert Dunne .............................................................................................................................1
Arsenic and Life: Bacterial Redox Reactions Associated with Arsenic Oxyanions
Ronald S. Oremland .................................................................................................................17
Part 2: Processing With Sea Water and Saline Solutions
Challenges in Flotation of Cu-Mo Sulfide Ores in Sea Water
Sergio Castro .............................................................................................................................29
Correlation of Graphite Flotation and Gas Holdup in Saline Solutions
S. Alexander, J. Quinn, J.E. van der Spuy, and J.A. Finch .....................................................41
Foaming Properties of Flotation Frothers at High Electrolyte Concentrations
S. Castro, P. Toledo, and J.S. Laskowski ...................................................................................51
Role of Saline Water in the Selective Flotation of Fine Particles
Yongjun Peng, Shengli Zhao, and Dee Bradshaw ....................................................................61
Induction Time Measurements for Air Bubbles on Chalcopyrite, Bornite,
and Gold in Seawater
Jaroslaw Drelich and Jan D. Miller .........................................................................................73
Removal of Ions from Water with Electrosorption Technology
Jiann-Yang Hwang and Xiaowei Sun ......................................................................................87
Research on Primary Water Hardness of Coal Slurry
Jiong-tian Liu and Ming-qing Zhang ......................................................................................97
Part 3: Water Treatment and Biological Methods
Membrane Operations in Water Treatment and Reuse
Enrico Drioli and Francesca Macedonio ................................................................................105
Application of Membrane Separation Technologies to Wastewater Reclamation
and Reuse
Peter S. Cartwright .................................................................................................................115
Removal of Heavy Elements from Aqueous Processes
Lucas Moore, Amir Mahmoudkhani, and Jean Robert Durand ...........................................131
New Electro-Biochemical Reactor for Treatment of Wastewaters
D.J. Adams, M. Peoples, and A. Opara .................................................................................143
iii
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iv Water in Mineral Processing
Kinetics and Thermodynamic Studies on Biosorption of Heavy Metals
Using Ecklonia Maxima
A.B. Marshall and D.I.O. Ikhu-Omoregbe ...........................................................................155
Flotation of Chalcopyrite in Water Containing Bacteria
Wenying Liu, Chris Moran, and Sue Vink ............................................................................165
Relationships Observed in Rock Pile Microbial Populations
D.J. Adams, B. Richins, J. Eshler, and J. Kennedy ................................................................175
Mining Effluent Reutilization in Biomass Production
E. Martínez and M.J. García ................................................................................................187
Part 4: Effect of Water Quality on Minerals Processing
Effect of Cations, Anions, and Ionic Strength on the Flotation of
Pentlandite–Pyroxene Mixtures
N.J. Shackleton, V. Malysiak, D. De Vaux, and N. Plint .....................................................197
Frothing in the Flotation of Copper Sulfide Ores in Sea Water
S. Castro, O. Ramos, J.P. Cancino, and J.S. Laskowski ........................................................211
Impact of Total Dissolved Solids in Process Water on the Surface Properties
of Silica and Sphalerite Minerals
Meijiao Deng, Qingxia Liu, and Zhenghe Xu .......................................................................225
Desalination of Coal Mine Water with Electrosorption
Xiaowei Sun and Jiann-Yang Hwang ....................................................................................237
Impact of Dissolved Gangue Species and Fine Colloidal Matter in Process
Water on Flotation Performance
Mukund Vasudevan, Tarun Bhambhani, D.R. Nagaraj, and Raymond S. Farinato ...........247
Particle Aggregation and Sedimentation Characteristics of Kaolinite
Suspensions as Explained by Surface Charge Considerations
Jan D. Miller and Vishal Gupta ............................................................................................261
Multi-Scale Investigation of Applying Secondary Effluent in Sulfide Flotation
Jinhong Zhang and Wei Zhang ..............................................................................................279
Trace Metals Removal with Precipitated Solids from Uranium Mine Effluent
at Cameco’s Key Lake Operation
Kuang Lee, David Lee, and Arthur Lieu ...............................................................................291
Part 5: Water and Tailings Management
Alternatives to Coal Mine Tailings Impoundment—Evaluation of Three Dewatering
Methods at Rockspring Coal Mine
Charles Murphy, Christopher Bennett, Greg Olinger, and Bret Cousins ...............................301
Mine Wastewater Treatment Using Novel Processes
Ronald V. Davis, Kevin O’Leary, Thomas Haynie, and Deepak Musale ..............................311
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contents v
Removal of Phosphate from Mine Water Effluents—How to Meet Future
Regulations for Effluent Waters
Mika Martikainen and Matias Penttinen .............................................................................323
Mitigation Strategies to Reduce Diethylenetriamine (DETA) Residual in
Tailings Water at Vale’s Sudbury Operation
Jie Dong and Manqiu Xu .......................................................................................................339
Managing Our Most Precious Resource—Quality and Quantity Issues With Water
for Mineral Processing in Western Australia
Damian Connelly ...................................................................................................................353
Using Spreadsheets to Evaluate the Effects of Mine Water Disposal on Surface
and Ground Water
Lisa M. Boettcher ....................................................................................................................359
Wastewater Recycling Technology in Fankou Lead-Zinc Mine of China
Yuehua Hu, Wei Sun, Runqing Liu, and Jinping Dai ..........................................................371
Sulfidized Red Mud—A New Sorbent for Toxic Substances
Joseph Iannicelli ......................................................................................................................389
Index .............................................................................................................................................399
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Water Water Everywhere and Not a Drop to
Drink, Nor Do I Know Its Whereabouts
Robert Dunne
Newmont Mining Corporation, Englewood, CO, USA
ABSTRACT
The demand for water is driven primarily by population and concomitant economic
growth. Water requirements are predicted to grow considerably in the next decades while
supplies will remain relatively constant or decline due to over pumping of aquifers, changing
weather patterns and increased water pollution and contamination.
Mining activities are often located in remote, arid environments, with limited access to
high-quality water. The water used in mining operations comes from a variety of sources and
the sources and quality of the water varies from operation to operation. Mining impacts on
water quantity and quality are among the most contentious aspects of mining development.
The main problem for the mining industry is to generate confidence in developing a respon-
sible, sustainable and transparent water management strategy that is recognized as such by all
stakeholders. This paper provides an overview of water in the wider global arena and compares
this to how the mining industry has dealt with water stewardship over the last couple of decades.
INTRODUCTION
The demand for water is driven primarily by population and concomitant economic
growth. Water requirements are predicted to grow considerably in the next decades while
supplies will remain relatively constant or decline due to over pumping of aquifers, chang-
ing weather patterns and increased water pollution and contamination. While all regions will
experience water scarcity to some degree, for some countries it will become more acute (Vaux
2011). It is estimated that by 2025, as water scarcity intensifies, more countries will be severely
short of water. Water shortages appear to have started in earnest around 1900, when around
2% of the world’s populations were subjected to acute water shortages (Oelkers et al. 2011).
This increased to 9% by 1960 and since then the number of people subject to chronic water
shortages have increased rapidly to around 35 percent by 2005 (Kummu et al. 2010).
Overall, some 66% of the water withdrawn from the environment is used in agriculture,
23% by industry (includes mining) and 7% by households (Horrigan et al. 2002). Annually,
about 42,500 cubic km3 of water is available for human use, and 2600 km3 is consumed
(primarily for agriculture). Globally, water supplies are virtually fully allocated and water use
is between 50 and 85% of freshwater supply. In total, approximately 4000 km3/y of water is
withdrawn from surface water and groundwater sources worldwide to meet human needs. Of
this roughly 20% is taken from groundwater (Boswinkel 2000). It is estimated that the “safe”
consumption of runoff is essentially already allocated in that it will be needed to feed a growing
global human population (Barrett 2011).
GLOBAL WATER RESOURCE
The total amount of water in the hydrosphere consists of “free” water in liquid, solid or
gaseous states in the atmosphere, on the Earth’s surface, and in the crust down to a depth of
1
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2 Keynotes
Table 1. Major earth surface water reservoirs (based on Gleick, 1996)
Water Source Percent of Total Water Mean Residence Time of Water
Oceans, seas, bays 96.5 2500 years
Ice caps, glaciers 1.74 9700 years
Groundwater 1.69 1400 years
Fresh 0.76 —
Saline 0.93 —
Ground ice and permafrost 0.022 10,000 years
Lakes 0.013 17 years
Fresh 0.007 —
Saline 0.007 —
Atmosphere 0.001 8 days
Swamps 0.0008 5 years
Rivers 0.0002 16 days
Biological water 0.0001 4 hours
Totals 100
approximately 2000 m. Approximate estimates of the Earth’s water resources are shown in
Table 1 (Gleick 1996). Some 97.5% is saline water largely in the oceans, so that only 2.5%
is fresh water. The greater proportion of the fresh water is in the form of ice and permanent
snow cover in polar and mountainous regions (Trenberth et al. 2007). The other two sources
are surface water (rivers and lakes) and atmospheric water (via rainfall) and store no more than
0.0012% of global water reserves. These sources are the most accessible for economic needs
and are of vital importance to water ecosystems. However, a significant fraction of this water
flows in isolated rivers (e.g., in South America and the Arctic) and from a practical viewpoint
is unavailable. Besides this these resources are rapidly replenished by natural processes. Almost
all of the remaining water is contained in underground aquifers. Water storage in rivers and
lakes is small, some two orders of magnitude less than groundwater volume. The mean resi-
dence time of water in rivers and the atmosphere is estimated to be 16 and 8 days, respectively.
Although lakes store more freshwater than either rivers or the atmosphere, they take on average
17 years to refill.
WATER AvAILABILITy
Rainfall and Surface Storage
Surface water and groundwater sources have up until now, ensured the growth of our society.
Surface water can be very important locally however, there are limitations in the supply as the
availability of surface water can fluctuate markedly according to rainfall (monsoon) or snowmelt
cycles (Vaux 2011). As rainfall supplies approximately 80% of the water used for agricultural
production worldwide these fluctuations can have serious impacts on agricultural production.
The prevailing practices of water resource management during the last century placed
heavy reliance on the construction of reservoirs/dams and canals to store and distribute water
(Vaux 2011). Constructed reservoirs/dams are able to accommodate seasonal changes, but
often at the cost of large evaporative losses and expensive infrastructure. Surface waters are
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Water Water everyWhere and not a droP to drinK 3
also vulnerable to cycles of drought. The naturally small storage of surface waters means that
declines in precipitation quickly translate into reductions in stream flows. As water demand
continues to grow so water available for development becomes increasingly scarce. The costs
of water storage infrastructure have risen disproportionately because low-cost sites and water
supplies have already been developed and because the costs of civil works have increased faster
than the rate of inflation (Vaux 2011).
Half the world’s people now live in cities and are heavily dependent on their water-supply
systems. Examples of these are: Los Angeles uses of local groundwater but import the bulk of
its supply from surface waters in the Owens Valley, the Sacramento-Dam Joaquin Delta, and
the Colorado River, hundreds of kilometers away. Beijing, which has relied historically on
local supplies, is now tapping the Yangtze River 1000 km to the south. In less than a century,
sociological tools needed to grow their cities seemingly without regard for natural limits on the
availability of local water supplies (Schwartz and Ibaraki 2011).
Groundwater
Groundwater is by far the most readily available water resource of freshwater. The huge
volumes of water stored in aquifers together with slow rates of “natural” depletion make
groundwater a resilient source of water (Vaux 2011). Groundwater is commonly extracted
from aquifers big and small and the rate of “external” withdrawal of groundwater around
the world has increased substantial however, the rates in many instances far exceed the natu-
ral replenishment (Schwartz and Ibaraki 2011). Moreover, increasing populations, with their
associated agricultural and industrial activities, create sources of pollution that further limit
supplies of water. Furthermore, intensive extraction of groundwater can create unintended
impacts on surface waters. The inherent coupling of groundwater and surface waters means
that groundwater consumed for irrigation reduces the flow in streams that normally receive
natural inflows of groundwater (e.g., springs) (Schwartz and Ibaraki 2011).
In the United States, two-thirds of piped water (mostly in large cities) comes from surface
water, but in rural areas, drinking water is frequently not obtained from public water suppliers
and nearly all domestic supply is reliant on groundwater (Johnston et al. 2011; Kenny et al.
2009).
Lakes
Lakes also are a “large” source of freshwater and well as “quality” water for industrial usage.
The latest survey undertaken by the International Lake Environment group, in co-operation
with the United Nations Environment Program, of 217 lakes worldwide found that 54% of
lakes in Asia are eutrophic (oxygen depleted by nutrients), compared to 41% in South America
and 28% in Africa (Jørgensen 2001). The greatest water-quality problems in lakes are found in
countries with large populations and with scarce financial resources. The regulation of nutri-
ents to protect drinking water supplies is urgently needed (Johnston et al. 2011)
Aquifer Storage
A process known as aquifer storage and recovery (ASR), has emerged as an increasingly
attractive water-management strategy in the last two decades. ASR and variants such as aquifer
storage transport and recovery (Rinck-Pfeiffer et al. 2005) involves the storage of water in sub-
surface aquifers when water is plentiful and recovered during times of peak demand or water
WaterMineralsProcessing.indb 3 11/22/11 1:48 PM
4 Keynotes
stress (Pyne 1995). Peak storm water flows and wastewater streams can be harvested, treated
passively (e.g., constructed wetlands) or actively (e.g., dissolved air flotation/filtration) and
injected into confined aquifers for subsequent recovery for non-potable purposes (Pyne 1995;
Pavelic et al. 2006a; Swierc et al. 2005). ASR has been carried out for municipal, industry and
agriculture use. In Texas, there are two operating ASR facilities-one was developed in Kerrville
for the Upper Guadalupe River Authority in the early 1990s, and the other the San Antonio
Water System in south Bexar county and this came online in June 2004. The first agriculture
ASR wells were put into service in Oregon in the autumn of 2006 injecting spring flood waters
into the aquifer (www.ecy.wa.gov). The shallow recharged water is then recovered as potable
water and injected into the deep basalt aquifer.
Wastewater
Today, wastewater treatment technologies have advanced to the point where household
and industrial wastewater can be cleaned so as to meet the standards prescribed for household
use. For example, the Orange County Water District, located in Southern California, produces
significant quantities of water from wastewater, and this recycled water is recharged to local
aquifers from which it is ultimately extracted to serve household needs (Vaux 2011). The dis-
trict employs several technologies, of which the most advanced feature artificial membranes
that are used in a reverse osmosis process to clean the water prior to direct injection into the
underlying aquifer. These technologies are relatively costly and can be employed economically
only under certain conditions,
WATER QUALITy
The deterioration of water quality can be either natural (geogenic) or human induced
(anthropogenic).
Geogenic Deterioration
Geogenic contaminants in groundwater are related not only to the local and regional
geology but also to the conditions that facilitate contaminant release from aquifer sediments
(Smedley and Kinniburgh 2002).
The chemistry of most surface water and shallow groundwater is the result of water-rock-gas
interactions. The evaporation of water concentrates solutes, in certain circumstances resulting
in the crystallization of minerals such as calcite and gypsum. The combination of evaporation
and mineral precipitation can lead to high sodium, chloride, and/or sulfate concentrations.
Soil gases commonly have carbon dioxide because of root respiration and organic matter decay.
Therefore percolation of water through organic-rich soil can further lower pH, leading to the
dissolution of acid soluble minerals. Weathering reactions in the soil zone include the disso-
lution of unstable silicates, ion exchange reactions are fast, and water commonly establishes
equilibrium with these minerals and mineral surfaces. In contrast, silicate mineral dissolution
in nature is controlled by slow kinetics, and the precipitation of secondary clay minerals is an
even more sluggish process (Zhu and Schwartz 2011).
The two most important geogenic contaminants from a health aspect (Hopenhayn 2006)
are arsenic (Ravenscroft et al. 2009) and fluoride (Fawell et al. 2006). Hundreds of millions
of individuals, mostly in Asia, are exposed to these geogenic contaminants at levels 10 to
100 times greater than drinking water standards.
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