The Hirvilavanmaa (Au-only) and Naakenavaara (Cu-Co-Au-Ni) deposits, located only 5 km apart in the Paleoproterozoic Central Lapland belt (CLB) northern Finland, represent two types of orogenic gold mineralization that dominate CLB: (1) Au-only (2) Au with atypical metal association, respectively. In this study, we compare these deposits order to pinpoint origin differences their associations. ...

We use mathematical optimization to determine a production schedule (i.e., a schedule of extraction and subsequent filling of the voids) for a complex underground mine in Ireland. The goal of the mining operation is to maximize metal production over the life of the mine, subject to constraints on maximum monthly extraction and backfilling quantities, maximum and minimum monthly metal production...

The metal sulfi des exhibit a great diversity of electrical and magnetic properties with both scientifi c interest and practical applications. These properties apply major constraints on models of the electronic structure (or chemical bonding) in sulfi des (Vaughan and Rosso 2006, this volume). The pure and doped synthetic equivalents of certain sulfi de minerals have actual or potential applic...

Magnesium (Mg) is a lightweight metal with applications in transportation and sustainable battery technologies, but its current production through ore reduction using the conventional Pidgeon process emits large amounts of CO2 and particulate matter (PM2.5). In this work, a novel Pidgeon process driven by microwaves has been developed to produce Mg metal with less energy consumption and no dire...

The drum agglomeration of nickel laterite and gold ores has been optimized through the design of experiments (DOE) using a Taguchi L16 (45) orthogonal array to determine the optimum conditions for maximizing average agglomerate size and minimizing the amount of fines. The effects of controllable operating factors including moisture content (nickel laterite ore: 34-37%; gold ore: 7-10%), retenti...

A metal-enriched seawater plume entering the western Mediterranean Sea through the Strait of Gibraltar originates 300 km to the west in the Rio Tinto estuary of southwestern Spain. Mining of Rio Tinto ore, one of the largest metal-rich sulfide deposits in the world, started well before Roman times. Contemporary Rio Tinto waters draining the region are highly acidic (pH 2.5) with dissolved cadmi...

The extensively used shaft furnace in the ore concentration industry is an important facility that turns the weak-magnetic low-grade hematite ore into strong-magnetic one. During the operation of the shaft furnace roasting process, the optimal control objective is to control the technique indices, namely the magnetic tube recovery ratio (MTRR) that represents the quality, the efficiency, and th...

In heap bioleaching, acidophilic extremophiles contribute to enhanced metal extraction from mineral sulphides through the oxidation of Fe(II) and/or reduced inorganic sulphur compounds (RISC), such as elemental sulphur or mineral sulphides, or the degradation of organic compounds derived from the ore, biota or reagents used during mineral processing. The impacts of variable solution acidity and...