Mineral Ore Mining & Processing PDF

ORE MINERALS Describe how ore minerals are found, mined, and processed for human use.  Rock Seam or Ore 2 ▪ It is a natural rock or sediment containing one or more valuable mineral. ▪ It is a metalliferous mineral, or an aggregate of metal...

ORE MINERALS Describe how ore minerals are found, mined, and processed for human use.  Rock Seam or Ore 2 ▪ It is a natural rock or sediment containing one or more valuable mineral. ▪ It is a metalliferous mineral, or an aggregate of metalliferous minerals and gangue (associated rock of no economic value), that can Chrysotile Asbestos Mineral Seam in Rock be mined at a profit. Mineral Ores 3 ▪ These are rock deposits that contain minerals. Mineral Ores 4 ▪ These are rock deposits that contain minerals.  Mineral and Ore Deposit 5 ▪ Mineral deposit designates a natural occurrence of a useful mineral. It is a “geologic term”. ▪ Ore deposit denotes a mineral deposit of sufficient extent and concentration to invite exploitation. It is an “economic term”. Map of Mineral Deposits in the Philippines  6 Typical development workings of an underground mine. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. How Minerals are Found? “Mineral Exploration” 7  Mineral Exploration 8 ▪ It is a complete sequence of activities which aims to discover deposits of minerals and rocks that can be used to meet the resource needs of society  1) Project Design 9 ▪ This is the initial stage in formulating a project. ▪ This involves review of all available data (geologic reports, mining history, maps, etc.), government requirements in acquiring the project, review of social, environmental, political, and economic acceptability of the project, and budget and organization proposals. alaskajournal.com  2) Field Exploration 10 ▪ This stage involves physical activities in the selected project area. This can be subdivided into three (3) phases: A. Regional Reconnaissance - The main objective is to identify targets or interesting mineralized zones covering a relatively large area (regional). B. Detailed Exploration - This involves more detailed surface and subsurface activities with the objective of finding and delineating targets or mineralized zones. C. Prospect Evaluation - The main objective is to assess market profitability by (1) extensive resource, geotechnical and engineering drilling (2) metallurgical testing and (3) environmental and societal cost assessment.  2) Field Exploration 11 ▪ This stage involves physical activities in the selected project area. This can be subdivided into three (3) phases: Regional Reconnaissance Detailed Exploration Prospect Evaluation  3) Pre-production Feasibility Study 12 ▪ The feasibility study determines and validates the accuracy of all data and information collected from the different stages. ▪ The purpose is for independent assessors to satisfy interested investors to raise funds and bring the project into production.  How Minerals are Mined? “Different Types of Mining” 13  History of Mining 14 Archaeological discoveries indicate that mining was conducted in prehistoric times. ▪ Flint – the first mineral used. It is because of its conchoidal fracturing pattern, could be broken into sharp-edged pieces that were useful as scrapers, knives, and arrowheads. Mining 15 ▪ It is the process of mineral extraction from a rock seam or ore. ▪ It is the process of extracting useful minerals from the surface of the Earth, including the seas. Types of Mining 16 Two (2) Main Methods of Mining 1) Surface Mining a) Open-Pit Mining b) Dredging c) Strip Mining d) Quarrying e) Placer Mining 2) Underground Mining 17  Types of Mining 18 1) Surface Mining - Utilized to extract ore minerals that are close to Earth’s surface. There are different types which includes: ▪ Open-pit mining – It is the most common. It means a big hole (or pit) in the ground. The pit in mine is created by blasting with explosives and drilling. It is used to mine gravel and sand and even rock.  Types of Mining 19 1) Surface Mining ▪ Dredging – It is the process of mining materials from the bottom of a body of water, including rivers, lakes, and oceans.  Types of Mining 20 1) Surface Mining ▪ Strip mining – It involves the removal of a thin strip of overburden (earth or soil) above a desired deposit, dumping the removed overburden behind the deposit, extracting the desired deposit, creating a second, parallel strip in the same manner, and depositing the waste materials from that This mining method is used for coal, second (new) strip onto the first strip. phosphates, clays, and tar mining.  Types of Mining 21 1) Surface Mining ▪ Placer Mining – It is mining of stream bed (alluvial) deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit or by various surface excavating tunneling equipment.  Types of Mining 22 2) Underground Mining - Utilized to extract ore minerals from the orebody is that is deep under the Earth’s surface.  How Minerals are processed for human use? “Milling or Mineral Processing” 23 24  Milling or Mineral Processing 25 ▪ It is the process of extracting minerals from the ore, refining them, and preparing these minerals for use. ▪ It is an art of treating crude ores and mineral products in order to separate the valuable minerals from the waste rock, or gangue.  Milling or Mineral Processing 26 Primary Steps in Processing Minerals 1. Sampling - is the removal of a portion which represents a whole needed for the analysis of this material. 2. Analysis - is important to evaluate the valuable component in an ore. This includes chemical, mineral and particle size analysis. 3. Comminution - is the process where the valuable components of the ore are separated through crushing and grinding. 4. Concentration - involves the separation of the valuable minerals from the raw materials 5. Dewatering - This involve filtration and sedimentation of the suspension and drying of the solid materials harvested from this suspension.  Milling or Mineral Processing 27 Examples of Milling or Recovery Methods or Processes: 1. Heavy Media Separation - The crushed rocks are submerged in liquid where the heavier/denser minerals sink thus are separated from the lighter minerals. 2. Magnetic Separation - If the metal or mineral is magnetic, the crushed ore is separated from the waste materials using a powerful magnet. 3. Flotation - The powdered ore is placed into an agitated and frothy slurry where some minerals and metals based on physical and chemical properties may either sink to the bottom or may stick to the bubbles and rise to the top thus separating the minerals and metals from the waste. 4. Cyanide Heap Leaching - This method used for low-grade gold ore where the crushed rock is placed on a “leach pile” where cyanide solution is sprayed or dripped on top of the pile. 28 29 30 31 Ore Minerals 32 ▪ How Ore Minerals are Found? ▪ How Ore Minerals are Mined? ▪ How Ore Minerals are Processed for human use?  REFERENCES 33 ▪ Bayo-ang, R., Coronacion, M., Jorda, A., & Restubog, A. (2016). Earth and Life Science for Senior High School. (M. Moncada, Ed.) Quezon City, Philippines: Educational Resources Corporation. ▪ Pascual, C. B., & Cadiz, A. P. (2017). Fundamentals of Earth & Life Science. Manila, Philippines: Mindshapers Co., Inc. ▪ Slideshare: https://www.slideshare.net/AbbieMahinay/ ▪ Various internet sources